


The Lucky Ones

by Terri Botta (Isilwath)



Series: The Lucky Ones [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Breastfeeding, Drama, F/M, Lactation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 09:16:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 49
Words: 304,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3244310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isilwath/pseuds/Terri%20Botta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another OLD fic. This one is from 2007. It's very long, but I remain proud of it. It had over 1000 revires on fanfic.net before it was deleted. </p><p>Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to accept it for what it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Lucky Ones

By Terri Botta

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I’m poor so don’t sue.

Rating: R for later chapters.

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to accept it for what it is.

\-----------------------------------

Chapter One

            Higurashi Kagome rubbed her neck and sighed, taking a break from her studies. She looked around her and found Inuyasha lying in that boneless way only he seemed to be able to manage, and suppressed a smile. Even though she had been with him for almost two years, there were still things about him that she never tired of. Sitting in Kaede’s hut and enjoying each other’s quiet company was one of them.

He noticed her movement immediately and turned golden eyes her way.

            “Done already?” he asked.

            She shook her head. “Not yet. Just… my neck is stiff.”

            He moved behind her and lifted her hair, his talented fingers finding the muscle knots and dispatching them with ruthless efficiency.

            “Baka. It’s because you sit all scrunched up,” he scolded gently, rubbing her neck.

            “Mmmmmmmmmmmm,” she groaned, and didn’t have to look at him to know that he was blushing. “I do it just so you’ll rub my neck just like that.”

            “Feh,” was all he said, but he didn’t stop and she was fine with that.

            After so long together, he knew her pretty well, and his fingers moved unerringly across her skin. He was well familiar with the usual culprits: two lumps on either side of the base of her neck that needed special attention from the pads of his thumbs. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back to his shoulder as he worked on them, relaxing under his tender touch and letting her mind wander.

            Two years. She’d be seventeen soon. She wondered if she could convince Inuyasha to let her stay in her time for a whole week as a birthday present. Maybe he’d even come and spend a couple of days at the house, and they’d have some quiet time there. Gods knew they could use a little down-time from hunting for shards. Inuyasha would never admit it, but he did get tired and often she had to play the ‘weak human’ in order to get him to rest.

            Hunting for shards, however, was what kept them together. Or rather, that was the reason the both of them gave for her constant time travel. They had to find the shards and complete the Shikon no Tama… for the second time. At least this time around Naraku was dead. Although, it would have been nice if he hadn’t shattered his almost completed jewel in a final resounding ‘fuck you’ to the ones who killed him, and sent the shards once again flying all over Feudal Japan, but one couldn’t have everything.

In truth, she was glad of it because she really hadn’t known what was going to happen after the jewel was completed. Would Inuyasha have chosen to become a full youkai? Would Kikyou have come to claim her former lover’s life? Would the well have sealed and cut her off from her second family forever? In the end, Naraku smashing the jewel actually did her a favor, and she was oddly grateful in a ‘damn I am sure glad the bastard’s dead but at least I still have The Quest’ kind of way.

So yes, Naraku was dead and burned to an ashen crisp- his remains scattered to the four winds, courtesy of Kagura who turned out to be an unlikely ally. Who actually killed him was still a matter of contention with both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha claiming responsibility for destroying their hated enemy. Inuyasha boasted loudly that Tessaiga and her Kongousouha had dealt the killing blow, but Sesshoumaru, in his typical style had responded with what amounted to a very narcissistic ‘in your dreams, whelp’ and claimed Toukijin had sliced the evil hanyou to pieces. For Kagome, she really didn’t care  ** _who_**  killed Naraku, only that he was dead, dead, dead, but knowing Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, they’d probably be coming to blows over it for centuries. To be honest, Kagome secretly suspected that Naraku’s death had less to do with the attacks of the two brothers, and more to do with the baby Kagura had skewered when she thought no one was looking, but she was wisely staying out of it.

With Naraku gone, shard hunting was somewhat more relaxed, which was a good thing because- miracles of miracles- she  ** _had_**  passed the high school entrance exams and was now entering her second year. Jii-chan had finally gotten wise and arranged for Kagome to be declared a special case, diagnosing her with some long term disease that amounted to her being allowed to continue the majority of her studies at home- or in Kaede’s hut as was usually the case. She just had to show up twice a month to get her assignments and also to take the exams, but other than that, if she wasn’t in school, it didn’t count against her. With the pressure off- in both her world and in the Sengoku Jidai- her grades improved and no one complained about her attendance anymore.

As for the other members of their group, Miroku and Sango had married shortly after Naraku’s defeat. With Naraku dead, Miroku’s Kazanna thankfully disappeared, leaving him free to contemplate a full and long life, and he made good on his proposal to the young taijiya. They, along with Sango’s little brother Kohaku and Shippou, lived in Kaede’s village and went along on the shard hunts- at least for now. They were expecting their first child that summer.

All in all, life was good. Her studies were going well, the time slip still allowed her to travel between worlds, she still had purpose and felt useful, she still learned herbalism from Kaede, and she was still able to be with Inuyasha- whom she still loved with an intensity that frightened her sometimes.

If there were any downsides to things, it was probably that Kikyou was still undead and still wandering around. Every now and then she’d rear her poker face and prove that Inuyasha was still very much her dog. He’d go unstable at the first sight of her Shinidama-chuu, and Kagome knew there was no helping it. He would go off and she would try to forgive him. Usually, though, she’d get irritated and ‘sit’ him a few times just to remind him that she could. It was either that or take Sango’s suggestion and push him off a cliff so he couldn’t walk- preferably on the night of the New Moon to ensure maximum damage. But she couldn’t blame him, not really. She’d long ago come to terms with the fact that Kikyou still held part of Inuyasha’s heart- whether it was nostalgia or guilt or a bit of both, the undead miko still held a great deal of sway over the hanyou and there was nothing she could do about it.

What bothered Kagome was that Kikyou knew it and used it, breezing into Inuyasha’s life at odd intervals to yank his leash and remind him that he was responsible for her death. It was especially troublesome because Kagome suspected that Kikyou really didn’t want Inuyasha, and would probably not know what to do with him if she ever did take him. They were drastically different people from the two young lovers they had been 52 years ago- the whole undead thing notwithstanding. Kikyou had made some seriously questionable decisions regarding Naraku and the Shikon no Tama; and Inuyasha was no longer the outcast hanyou looking for somewhere to belong. Whenever they were together these days, she had noticed that the two of them were trying less and less to recapture what they had shared, and she hoped that meant that they were beginning to realize that they had outgrown each other and their “love.”

Kagome also questioned the purity of Kikyou’s “love,” and wondered if what she and the hanyou had shared all those years ago had actually been love or if had just been mutual need. She doubted either of them had really known what love was. Back then, Inuyasha had been bitter, insolent, and distrustful, but lonely. And Kikyou had been weary of the suffering she was forced to endure and wanted to be a normal woman. The two of them had come together in a strange relationship full of contradiction and mistrust. Neither fully accepted the other, and both were full of hate. They were easy targets for Naraku, a pair of veritable sitting ducks.

Kagome hoped and prayed that Inuyasha now knew better about love. She had tried to show him that true love never asked someone else to become something they weren’t, or to make huge sacrifices in order to “prove” their love. She took every opportunity to reinforce that  ** _she_**  at the very least liked him as he was, and he would never need to change in order to gain her approval. She often hoped that Kikyou was learning the same lessons that Inuyasha was learning about the nature of love, and wished it would help the undead miko find some kind of peace. If Kikyou could find peace, it was likely that she’d release Inuyasha from his tether and free him to be with her. She knew that Inuyasha’s promise to Kikyou was the single biggest thing keeping him from committing himself to her, and she dreaded the day Kikyou came to collect on the promise.

If anything, the biggest comfort Kagome had was that the Shikon no Tama  ** _wasn’t_**  complete so Kikyou had no reason to take it, and Inuyasha. She didn’t know what she would do if Kikyou came to redeem her claim on Inuyasha’s life. The hanyou was her whole world, and it would destroy her if he were taken away. She knew this, just as surely as she knew it would destroy him. The strain of being forced to choose between the two women he cared about would probably do him serious damage, which was why Kagome had never demanded it of him. Besides, if she made that demand, what made her any better than Kikyou who almost dragged a helpless Inuyasha to Hell? Above all things, she wanted Inuyasha to live and be happy. She wanted there to be good times between them, and she wanted to see him smile. And, in the darkness of the night when Inuyasha slept nearby, she admitted that she wanted to spend the rest of her life by his side.

All of them had been at Miroku and Sango’s wedding, which had been a lovely ceremony that still made Kagome’s heart warm to remember it. She had dreams of her own wedding- usually in Hawaii or some other tropical setting… she’d wear a beautiful Shiro-maku and have flowers in her hair, they’d hold the ceremony at sunset to catch the dying light on the beach, the colors would reflect in Inuyasha’s golden eyes… But then reality would set in and she figured she’d probably marry in her family’s shrine, and spend the majority of her wedding night coaxing a nervous virgin hanyou out of the God Tree. So much for romantic fantasies.

            “Oi. You’re brooding again,” Inuyasha’s voice said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

            She opened her eyes to look up at him and gave him a soft smile. “Just thinking.”

            “Well, stop thinking. Whatever it is it’s making you all tense again,” he complained, rubbing at her neck again.

            “Sorry. I’ll try to stop.”

            “Feh,” he sniffed, but pulled her into his arms, resting her back against his chest and cocooning her in the diaphanous folds of his haori.

            She sighed and relaxed completely. His arms were the safest place she’d ever known, and it was in those arms when she knew he loved her. Even if the words had never left his lips, here was where she could feel it radiating from him in the cadence of his breathing and the beat of his heart. She could spend hours just like this, and often did. Sometimes they’d even sleep this way, curled up around each other, her cheek to his shoulder and his chin on her head.

             _‘I could almost sleep like this right now. I can always finish studying tomorrow. I don’t have a test for another two weeks…’_  she thought, snuggling into him. She heard him chuckle softly.

            A short time later she felt him stiffen and sniff the air, and she came fully awake immediately. Knowing him as she did, she knew that something was amiss and he sensed it with his acute hanyou nose.

            “What is it?” she asked, concerned.

            “Blood.”

            She pulled away from him and grabbed her first aid kit, then she got on his back and they left the hut at full speed. Halfway through the village they were met by one of the men.

            “Inuyasha-sama!” the man called and Inuyasha halted long enough to talk to him.

            Since his resurrection from Kikyou’s seal, his diligent protection of the village from youkai had earned him a place of respect among the villagers.

            “There is…” the man began.

            Inuyasha sniffed and homed in on the location of the blood scent. “I know. Find Kaede,” he replied and leaped off towards the source of the smell.

            Kagome saw where they were going well before they got there. Several on-lookers had already gathered around something on the edge of the village, just across the river. Inuyasha leaped the river in one jump and they landed with barely a thump on the other side.

            “Get outta the way!” he ordered, pushing his way through the gaggle of people to see what it was.

            A woman knelt on the ground, haggard and exhausted. She was huddled upon herself, barely clinging to life, but she looked up when they approached and her eyes filled with hope. Inuyasha put Kagome down and she rushed to the woman’s side.

            “You’re hurt,” she said without preamble, but the woman only had eyes for Inuyasha.

            “Are you… are you the hanyou Inuyasha?” she asked in a breathless whisper.

            “Who wants to know?” he replied defensively.

            Kagome took the opportunity to lift the woman’s heavy cloak from behind and what she saw made her gasp. Three broken arrows were embedded in the woman’s back and her kimono was stained with blood, both fresh and dried.

            “Is this… is this Inuyasha’s village?” the woman asked, a desperate note in her voice.

            “Yes, Okaa-san,” Kagome comforted. “This is Inuyasha’s village and that is Inuyasha. Here, we need to get you into the healer’s hut and treat your wounds. You’ve lost a lot of blood…”

            The woman seemed to wilt with relief and tears began to fall from her eyes.

            “Please… please… my baby… my baby…”

            Inuyasha was on one knee in front of her immediately. “What baby? Where is the baby?”

            The woman slowly uncurled her body, her arms and cloak separating to reveal a baby sling. With shaking hands she lifted the blanket-wrapped bundle from the carrier, and the infant turned to face them. The onlookers gasped.

            ‘ _Oh my god…’_  Kagome thought, as the blanket fell away from the baby’s head and they got a good look.

            It was an inu-hanyou just like Inuyasha. Tiny puppy ears stuck out from a mass of unruly silver hair and two huge golden eyes peered out at them from a baby face.

            “Please… save my baby,” the woman pleaded, offering the infant.

            Inuyasha practically tripped over himself to back away, shock and disbelief written all over his face.

            “What?!”

            Kagome moved to accept the infant who was now squirming and whimpering.

            “It’s okay Okaa-san. We’ll keep your baby safe, but please let us take you to the healer…”

            The woman let out a choked sob, then coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed in the dirt. Kagome flinched and clutched the baby to her chest as she backed away.

            “Inuyasha. Quickly, take her to Kaede’s hut!”

            Inuyasha looked down at her with pity. “I’ll do it, but I don’t think it’s going to make a difference. She’s got the scent of death on her already.”

            “Then we can give her something for the pain,” she countered.

            Inuyasha nodded and picked up the woman’s limp form, carrying her carefully through the village. Kagome followed behind, holding the infant close, but he’d already started to fuss.

            “Hush, baby. Hush. We’ll feed you soon.”

            “He’s not hungry,” Inuyasha told her.

            “Eh? He’s not?”

            Inuyasha looked at her from the corner of his eye as they hurried down the main road through the village. “You don’t smell like his mother. For an inu-youkai pup, to be separated from its mother means certain death. Pups instinctually know this and memorize the mother’s scent within hours of being born. Your scent is unknown to him and he’s frightened. He wants his mother.”

             _‘But his mother isn’t going to make it…’_  she thought sadly, looking down at the pitiful little face. He was whimpering and had balled up his tiny fists. It broke her heart.

            On the way to Kaede’s, they were joined by Miroku, Sango and Shippou on Kirara.

            “Kagome-chan?” Sango asked, coming alongside them as they ran.

            “We have to get to Kaede’s hut!” she answered.

            Miroku nodded and jumped off Kirara, giving room for Kagome to get on.

            “Go, Inuyasha,” Kagome told him, and he leaped off at full speed, knowing Kirara could keep up with him.

            The woman held on for another hour, her breathing becoming shallower and more labored as her lungs obviously filled up with fluid. There was nothing anyone could do for her, but Kaede made a doping medicine that she assured would dull the pain the poor woman was suffering. Kagome sat close to her so the infant could smell his mother’s scent, although the blood-smell had to be bothering him because he would not stop fussing. In the end, they all gathered around her and she lived long enough to tell them her story.

            She had been the beloved of an inu-youkai in a country to the north. As long as she was with the youkai, she was under his protection and the villagers left her alone. However, shortly after her son was born, her beloved was killed. He had once told her that if something should ever happen to him, she should run for Musashi. There she would find a village where the hanyou Inuyasha lived. The hanyou was the village’s protector, and she and the baby would be safe there.

Upon hearing the news of her lover’s death, she immediately ran for her and her baby’s lives, but they were hunted down by the villagers, hell bent on killing the demon lover and the infant. They thought they had killed her and gave up the chase, but she had only been wounded. She had traveled four days with her wounds in order to reach her destination. Again she pleaded for her child’s life, knowing that she herself was mortally wounded. In fact the only thing that had kept her alive this long was the knowledge that she had to get her baby to safety.

Inuyasha listened to the woman’s tale and Kagome saw the emotions playing across his face: hate for the villagers and rage at what they had done, surprise at hearing that another inu-youkai knew of him and felt his hanyou son would be safe under his protection, sadness for the woman’s pain and suffering, and pity for her poor, little soon-to-be orphaned pup.

“Okaa-san,” he said softly, shocking all of them with his term of respect. “I promise you. Your pup is safe now. I will protect him from all harm.”

Tears fell from the woman’s eyes and she gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

She passed peacefully a few minutes later, her breath leaving her in one long sigh. They knew the moment she was gone because the infant began to wail and he would not be consoled.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

            The baby screamed himself hoarse, proving that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his little lungs. Kagome rocked him and cried along with him, feeling utterly helpless to ease his pain. There was nothing anyone could do for him. His mother was dead, but she had died so that he would live. At one point during his screaming fit, Inuyasha took him and held him, pressing his teeth very, very gently on the pup’s throat in a mimicry of a bitch grabbing her pup by the scuff of its neck in an attempt to still him. It worked to lower the din from full screams to gasping whimpers, but only until Inuyasha eased up, then he would scream again, his face almost purple from the effort.

            Finally, Inuyasha and Kagome took the wailing baby out of the village so he wouldn’t continue to disturb everyone within hearing distance. They took turns walking with him and rocking him. Inuyasha showed her how to take him by his neck, cautioning her not to even press hard enough to leave a mark, but after a while not even that worked anymore because the baby figured out how to squirm out of such a light hold. Kagome resorted to cooing and singing softly, bouncing him the way she’d seen mothers do, all to no avail. Ultimately, they had no choice but to wait until the baby screamed himself unconscious- which he eventually did, after making sure they would both have hearing troubles for the next several hours.

            They returned to the village with the restlessly sleeping baby. Every now and then he would whimper and squirm, and they would cringe, expecting him to awaken and start crying again. They entered Kaede’s hut to find that the miko and Miroku had seen to the preparation of the body.

            “Was there anything of the mother’s that wasn’t bloodstained?” Inuyasha asked.

            “Only her head scarf and the baby sling,” the monk replied sadly.

            “Give them to me,” Inuyasha said.

            Miroku gave the hanyou the items he wanted. He took the baby, wrapped his dead mother’s head scarf around him and placed him in his baby sling. Surrounded by something that smelled familiar, the infant finally settled down and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

            “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?” Sango remarked.

            “I think… we were all too shocked and hurt to think clearly,” Miroku answered.

            “I just thought of it myself, but I didn’t want to put him in anything that had his mother’s blood on it. It could have made things worse,” Inuyasha explained.

            “Kagome…”

            “Hai?”

            He handed her the sleeping baby in the sling.

            “I’m going to go dig a grave,” he said quietly.

            She nodded and put the sling around her neck.

            “Take the scarf from your uniform and put it in with the pup. It’ll mingle with his mother’s scent so he starts to associate you with a familiar smell.”

            Kagome nodded and took the blue scarf from the collar of her high school uniform, tucking it into the sling next to the baby.

            Inuyasha gave her an approving glance and left. Miroku followed, saying he would help the hanyou prepare the woman’s resting place. Shippou came to perch on Kagome’s shoulder as she sat down next to Sango and Kaede.

            “I have such a headache,” she admitted.

            “I’ll prepare a pain killer tea for you, child,” Kaede offered.

            “Thank you, Kaede-obachan.” She looked down at the sleeping infant. “What are we going to feed you, baby?”

            “We can make a soft rice gruel with water and milk. It won’t be the best, but it will do. That’s what we used to do for infants whose mothers died if there was no woman with a nursing baby who could feed two,” Sango replied.

            Kagome nodded.  _‘I could go to my time and get bottles and baby formula. I’d have to keep it from my mom. She’d think the wrong thing for sure…_ ’

            She looked down at the baby’s sleeping face, still discolored from all his crying, and felt a stab of pain right through her heart.

             _‘Poor little lost baby…_ ’ “I wonder what we should call him.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 

            Two days later the still nameless baby was starting to associate his new adoptive family with food and safety. His primary caregivers were Kagome and Inuyasha, although Sango sometimes took a turn for “practice.” Being four months pregnant, she felt she should probably start getting used to the idea of caring for an infant. Kaede showed them how to use moss to line the baby’s cloth diapers to keep moisture away from his tender skin, and how to make the rice gruel that was his primary food. He started responding to their scent and voices, opening his huge eyes and looking their way. He didn’t cry much after that first terrible day; mostly he would just whimper and squirm when he was hungry or needed to be changed. Although sometimes he fussed and fretted, but that usually meant he just wanted attention. Kagome discovered that rubbing the baby’s puppy ears worked to satisfy him most of the time.

At night, he slept with her in her sleeping bag, tucked against her chest. If he moved, she was awake immediately and seeing to his needs- before he sought to see to them himself, as was evidenced by the number of times he’d wormed his way under her shirt and tried to latch onto a nipple. He’d managed to do it several times, waking Kagome when he began to suck. Poor little baby was so distressed when no milk was forthcoming from a place where he had begun to expect food.

On the fifth day, rumors reached them of a possible shard sighting, and they made preparations to go check it out.

“You aren’t going to bring the baby, are you Kagome-chan?” Sango asked worriedly.

“Of course. Kaede is too busy to take care of a baby and I’m not leaving him with one of the villagers,” the girl replied, packing her bag with lots of extra moss and rice.

“But is that wise?” Miroku questioned.

“Probably not, but I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

“Oi! Stop worrying! We’ll keep the pup safe. Let’s go.”

Kagome nodded, adjusting the baby sling so that the baby was securely fastened to her back, and climbed onto Inuyasha. Miroku, Shippou and Sango all rode beside them on Kirara, and Sango had a wistful look on her face as they traveled.

“Soon we won’t be able to do this, eh, Kagome-chan,” the taijiya commented.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Kagome asked.

The woman placed a hand on her lower abdomen where she was just starting to show.

“Well, I’ll have to stop traveling within the next month or so, and once that baby reaches a certain size, he won’t be so easy to carry. We’ll have to stay behind while the men go to have all the fun.”

“Keh! I won’t leave the pup unprotected,” Inuyasha snapped irritably. “Now that he’s with us, every hanyou-hating youkai within sensing distance is going to come after him. Until I kill a bunch of the bastards and scare the rest off, they’re going to keep coming back.”

Kagome frowned and snuggled into Inuyasha’s shoulder.

_‘It’s so horrible. Humans and youkai alike hate this baby just for being born. It’s terrible. He didn’t ask to be brought into this world. Now he’s lost both his mother and father, and is in constant danger of being killed. This time is so cruel…’_

The baby stayed quiet as they traveled and Kagome wondered if he had learned to be still during his mother’s last desperate journey. She could imagine that any noise he made would have given away his mother’s location to anyone who was hunting her, and she probably tried to keep him as silent as possible. Knowing what she knew of the baby in the five days she had been taking care of him, she knew he was a quick learner and highly reactive to the moods of his caregivers. Inuyasha had explained that it was a survival technique. Stupid pups died quickly, but the smart ones who could adapt were the ones who had the best chance. Kagome had to admit the baby was the smartest baby she’d ever known.

They stopped for a rest late in the afternoon. The baby had been so quiet and still that Kagome was certain he was sleeping, but when she pulled away the blanket two golden eyes were looking back at her and they didn’t look like ‘just woken, sleepy eyes.’ No, he was alert and aware.

Inuyasha gathered wood and they started a small cooking fire to heat up the baby’s gruel and also to boil the surgical glove they used as a makeshift bottle. While they were waiting, Kagome checked the baby’s diaper and gasped.

“What is it?” Sango asked, seeing Kagome’s surprised face.

“He’s soaked. I don’t understand. He didn’t fuss at all this whole time.”

“He wouldn’t,” Inuyasha broke-in. “Pups stay still when the mother moves. If a pup moves when the mother is traveling it can become separated and left behind.”

“How is it that you know so much about inu-youkai offspring, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked placidly.

Inuyasha looked away, his eyes distant. “It was a long time ago,” was all he said.

Kagome gave him a concerned glance but he wouldn’t meet her eyes, so she returned her attention to the baby, getting him out of his soiled diaper and cleaning him up. She laid him on his blanket by the fire so he would be warm while his skin dried and kept a close eye on him as she fished a clean diaper from her bag. He didn’t move from his spot, but did look around some, his huge eyes blinking slowly. Inuyasha moved closer and the baby immediately turned his head towards him.

“Hmm, pup tracks well,” the hanyou commented. “He’s smart, this one. Very smart.”

“Unlike you, Inuyasha,” Shippou replied. “If only the smart kits live, how’d you survive?”

“Why you!!” Inuyasha growled, moving to whack the kitsune on the head.

“Kagome!” Shippou cried, running for her.

At the sound of the commotion, the baby began to cry.

“Peace! Peace,” Miroku pleaded, trying to keep the hanyou from pounding the kit.

“Stop it! You’re upsetting the baby!” Kagome scolded as she picked up the infant and rocked him. “Hush baby, they’re just being immature.”

“Oi! Who you calling immature?” Inuyasha yelled.

“You, baka! And stop yelling. You know how it upsets him. Here, take him while I get more moss and the new diaper ready,” she said angrily, handing him the baby.

Inuyasha took the naked pup and immediately tucked him into his haori for warmth.

“Careful, he might piddle on you,” Sango warned.

Inuyasha cringed and grabbed the pup’s blanket, wrapping him in it instead.

“Here, his food is ready,” Sango said, offering Inuyasha the surgical glove filled about one third full of rice gruel. One finger remained as a nipple while the other four had been tied off to make sure no gruel went down into them.

Inuyasha accepted the glove and offered the ‘nipple’ to the pup with practiced ease. The pup latched on and began to eat, his eyes open and staring up at the hanyou.

“Well, at least he eats well,” Inuyasha commented.

“Yes, he has a good appetite, but I’m worried that rice gruel isn’t giving him all the nutrients he needs,” Kagome said. “I’m sure it isn’t nearly as good as his mother’s milk, and I know it doesn’t have as much protein.”

“You could chew up meat and feed it to him,” the hanyou suggested.

The others stared at him.

“What?” he snapped. “It’s not like he can chew it himself. He hasn’t got any teeth!”

            “Inuyasha…” Miroku began.

            “Ewwwww,” Kagome interrupted.

Inuyasha just shrugged.

“Maybe we could boil some meat and mash it up for him, Kagome-chan,” Sango offered.

Kagome nodded. “That would work.”

“I think he’s done,” Inuyasha said, putting down the glove. Most of the gruel was gone and the pup had stopped eating.

Kagome took him from Inuyasha, covered her shoulder with a towel and burped him. When she heard his little belch, she laid him back down on his blanket and began putting on a clean diaper with fresh moss. Wrapping him back up, she held him in her arms and rubbed his puppy ears. He gave a little sigh and closed his big eyes.

“We still don’t have a name for him,” she said.

“Typically, a child’s father has the right to name him, but in this case, the baby’s father is dead,” Miroku answered.

“And his mother didn’t say that he had a name,” Sango added.

“He was probably waiting to see if the pup would live, and got killed before he had a chance,” Inuyasha commented.

“Well then I guess naming rights go to you, Inuyasha,” Miroku noted.

“Huh? Why me?”

“You are the male caregiver here. I certainly haven’t been feeding and carrying him,” Miroku clarified. “It stands to reason that you have become the closest thing to a father the infant has, therefore his name is your choice.”

“What do you think we should call him, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked.

Inuyasha looked at the pup in Kagome’s arms and huffed. “I’ll have to think about it.” He stood, rolling his shoulders. “In the meantime, let’s get going.”

The others didn’t move and he scowled.

“What? Haven’t you humans rested enough? The pup’s fed and changed. There’s no reason to stay here and we still have a shard to track down.”

Miroku looked to his wife. “Are you ready to continue, Sango?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Very well then, we will go,” he replied, standing up and offering her his hand.

Inuyasha gave them another scowl and doused the fire while Kagome put the baby back in his sling. In a few minutes they were ready to go, and off they went. They didn’t stop again until they made camp for the night. While Inuyasha and Shippou went to fish for food, Sango and Miroku built a fire and Kagome cared for the baby. She was just finishing feeding him when Inuyasha and Shippou returned with fish for dinner. It amused her to see what the extra incentive of the baby and Sango’s pregnancy did to Inuyasha’s hunting skills. With the added responsibility of making sure he provided for the ‘breeding’ females, he didn’t return until he had caught enough fish for all of them to eat well.

 _‘Hmmm, no more ‘one fish is good enough. How much food do you humans need anyway’ grumping,’_ she thought with amusement.

After dinner, Kagome rolled out her sleeping bag and settled into it, tucking the baby against her chest as she usually did. Shippou climbed in with her, curled at her back. Even though he’d grown some in the last two years, and was now about the size of the average five-year-old, he still was small enough to fit in with her. Snuggled together, they went to sleep.

Kagome was awakened some hours later when the baby had once again made his way under her pajama shirt and started sucking on her nipple. She sighed and gently pulled him from her as she sat up, thankful that Shippou was so used to her moving at night that he didn’t even stir. The baby gave a little whimper and she patted him, cooing.

“I know. Gimme a minute. I have to boil water.”

They’d taken to leaving a pot with water in it just at the edge of the fire’s coals so all someone had to do was put the pot directly on the fire and the already warm water would boil quickly. She looked to the tree where Inuyasha was perched, keeping vigil as he always did, and he looked down at her. She flushed, knowing that he knew what had woken her, and for some reason, his knowing that the baby was nursing at her empty breast embarrassed her, although she couldn’t understand why. It was perfectly natural for a baby to seek a nipple and there was nothing perverted about it.

The baby whimpered again, and she checked his diaper and changed him as she waited for the water to boil, the glove and gruel ready to be heated. Sango heard her moving and sat up from the bedroll she shared with Miroku and Kirara.

“Did he do it again?” she asked.

Kagome nodded. “I think he’s figured out that I don’t have anything for him, but he still does it because he knows that I’ll get up and feed him. He’s not sucking quite so strongly as he used to; either that or I’m just getting used to it. They do still hurt a little bit though. I hope that it’s because he’s a hanyou, but he sucks hard. Hopefully your baby won’t suck so hard when he or she nurses.”

The older woman flushed at Kagome’s candor but she didn’t notice. The water had boiled and she tossed the glove in to sterilize it before using the water to heat the gruel. A few minutes later, she was feeding the baby and rocking him.

“You seem to have taken to mothering him rather easily, Kagome-chan,” Sango mused.

Kagome shrugged. “I like babies, and he’s really cute. I love his little puppy ears.”

“Keh,” Inuyasha sneered, hopping down from the tree. “Those little puppy ears are what marks him as a hanyou. They’re why youkai and human alike are after that pup’s death. There’s nothing cute about them.”

“Inuyasha,” Kagome scolded gently, then she handed him the baby in his blanket. “Here, I have to go the little girl’s bush.”

He gave her a little chuckle at her term for having to urinate, and took the pup from her, placing him in his lap. The pup reached out one clawed hand and snagged Inuyasha’s finger in a tight grip. The adult hanyou didn’t seem to mind, and bounced his leg gently.

“And you, Inuyasha, you seem to have no troubles taking care of him,” Sango noted. “Could it be you’re practicing for when you have your own pups?”

            He blinked at her in surprise. “You’re joking, right?”

            “Don’t you want to find a mate and have a family?”

“Keh! Hanyous don’t mate and have families. They live lonely lives, most of which they spend running until they’re strong enough to start killing the bastards after them. This pup here, he’ll probably spend his whole life alone with no one,” he replied, acid in his voice.

“He has you and Kagome-chan. And if he’s raised in Kaede’s village, Miroku and I will make sure none of our children grow up hating hanyous,” she pointed out.

“Feh. Then he’ll be luckier than every other hanyou I’ve ever known, including myself.”

“You have us too, Inuyasha, and Kagome-chan. You know she loves you very much. I’m sure she would have no reservations to becoming your mate if you asked her,” Sango told him, pushing just a little. She knew her dear friend’s heart and was tired of seeing Inuyasha’s insensitivity hurt her.

“As if I’d do that to her! Have her end up dead with an arrow in her back from some bastard who didn’t like the fact that she mated with a demon, maybe leave our pup orphaned and at the mercy of strangers…” He stopped and looked down at the pup, his finger still caught in the tiny hand.

“You were going to do it for Kikyou.”

He rounded on her, eyes flashing rage. “ ** _Kikyou_**  wanted me human. She wouldn’t have me any other way.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t make the same choice for Kagome?”

“Kagome would never ask that of me. She’s spent the last two years telling me she likes me as I am. She’d never tell me I had to give up being a hanyou in order to be with her.”

Sango gave him a measuring glance. “Then what does that tell you about Kikyou and Kagome?”

He huffed and moved away from the fire, going to the base of the tree he had been perched in and putting his back to it.

“That Kagome has more guts than brains,” he replied, then grew very quiet, his attention focused entirely on the pup in his lap.

Kagome returned a few moments later and sat next to him. She opened her arms and he gently placed the pup in them, his eyes down. She gave him a questioning look, then glanced at Sango who shook her head and motioned towards Inuyasha. She looked back at Inuyasha and could almost feel the stress radiating off of him. Taking a chance, she edged closer to him and leaned into his shoulder, seeking to comfort.

At the feel of her touch, Inuyasha let out a long sigh and did something he rarely did when they weren’t alone. He wrapped his arms around her, covering both her and the baby with the sleeves of his haori and drew her close to his chest. She gave him a little nuzzle on the chin with her nose and tucked her head under his jaw, snuggling into him. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and breathed into her hair. They fell back to sleep nestled together with the baby curled in their combined embrace.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

 

The following day they reached their destination and found that yes, indeed, there was a Shikon shard nearby. It turned out to be in the forehead of a large centipede youkai, and the youkai had no intention of giving it up without a fight. Kagome discovered that it was awkward firing her arrows with the baby positioned in front of her, so she moved him to her back and that gave her more freedom to draw her bow. Balancing him while she dodged and avoided getting attacked by the youkai also turned out to be no small task. In addition, he reacted to her fear and began to cry. The sound caught the centipede’s attention for one brief, fatal second and Sango took the opportunity to cut it in half with hiraikotsu.

Once the danger had passed, Kagome lifted the baby from her back and held him to her chest, rocking and soothing him. Inuyasha jumped in front of her and rubbed the infant under the chin.

“Already a fighter, eh, pup? That cry gave us the chance we needed,” the hanyou praised.

“I don’t think he was trying to help, Inuyasha,” Shippou answered.

“Oi! What do you know?”

Kagome patted the still whimpering baby. “Ummm, I think he might be right, Inuyasha,” she admitted.

He glared at her. “You too, huh?” He rubbed the baby’s puppy ears, quieting him immediately. “Well, I think you knew what you were doing even if these weak humans don’t get it.”

Kagome gave him a tolerant look and handed the baby to him. “I’m going to get the shard,” she said with a small smile.

He took the baby and brought him close to his face. “We both know better, right, pup? You’ll be getting your own sword soon.”

The baby made a gurgling noise and grabbed a lock of Inuyasha’s hair.

“How about he gets some teeth and learns how to walk before you start teaching him how to swing a sword around?” Kagome suggested dryly, dropping the shard into the vial she wore around her neck.

She opened her arms and he placed the baby in them, giving him another ear rub. The look on his face was one of paternal pride.

“It’s scary when Inuyasha’s happy a baby helped us kill something,” Shippou said.

Miroku and Sango looked on in stunned silence and nodded.

“Remind me to keep him away from our baby, houshi-sama…”

“Agreed.”

The baby began to make hungry whimpers and nuzzled at Kagome’s chest.

“See. A good fight always builds up an appetite. C’mon, Kagome. Let’s get something to eat,” Inuyasha enthused, leading the way to a potential campsite.

            “He really is scary, isn’t he?” Sango commented.

            Her husband nodded seriously.

Kagome gave them an apologetic look and a shrug before following Inuyasha away from the centipede corpse.

“Wait. We should bury the centipede and pacify its soul,” Miroku called.

“You do that while I hunt for dinner!” Inuyasha responded.

“Yes, but…” the ex-monk began, about to remind the hanyou that he was the best choice for grave digging since none of them had a spade, but Inuyasha was already gone.

Shippou shook his head. “He’s such an impatient guy.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be done for it,” Miroku sighed, following the others to the campsite Inuyasha had chosen.

Later they did manage to get Inuyasha to dig the grave for the centipede, but only after he had eaten four fish and two cups of ramen. Oddly, Kagome found herself to be unusually hungry as well and very, very thirsty. She was so thirsty in fact, that she finished off two full bottles of water and went to the stream they had camped by for more.

“Oi, Kagome. Are you alright?” Inuyasha asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

“I think so. I’m just so thirsty.”

Inuyasha felt her forehead, then his own. “I don’t think you have a fever, but here... just in case.”

He gave her his haori and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“Keh, can’t have you getting sick. Who’d take care of the baby?”

She wanted to point out that he’d been sharing baby duties rather well, except for changing him, but she thought the better of it. She had long ago learned that Inuyasha always covered his concern with an insult in order to protect himself, and even though he had started to let his guard down with her when they were alone, he still put up the front when they were around others. The fact that he asked after at all her showed her that he was concerned for her welfare even if he had tried to cover it up with a degrading remark.

“Maybe I’ve been eating too much salt,” she offered, drinking another bottle of water. “I should be more careful about what I eat.”

“Keh! Next thing you’ll say you won’t bring me ramen because it’s bad for me,” Inuyasha scoffed.

“I already say that, but I know if I don’t bring it you’ll drag me back through the well and down to the grocery store to buy some.”

“Damn right, wench.”

“Please don’t use foul language in front of the baby,” she requested.

“Why the hell not?”

“Because he will think that it is acceptable, and it’s not. You may not care about how rude you are, but I want this- still  ** _nameless_** \- baby to grow up knowing his manners.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true. Your manners are terrible, Inuyasha,” Shippou agreed, nodding sagely.

Inuyasha sputtered angrily. “Wha… wha… what?!” He looked to Sango and Miroku, but they refused to meet his eyes. “You guys too?!”

“Well…” Sango began, but he cut her off with a snort as he plopped down next to Kagome, his arms in his sleeves.

            “Fine, I won’t fucking curse in front of the fucking baby,” he grumbled.

            “Inuyasha.”

            He cringed, waiting for it.

            “Osuwari.”

            “Gah!” he gasped as his face hit the dirt.

The baby made a burbling sound and Kagome turned him to face Inuyasha. “See, Baby, this is what happens to rude hanyous who try to kill the girls who free them from their seals. They get binding prayer beads on their neck and someone forces them to osuwari…”

Inuyasha slammed to the ground again. The baby blinked and burbled again.

“See? Now, if you grow up nicely and learn your manners and don’t try to kill people, then this will never happen to you.”

            “Why you…” Inuyasha growled.

            “Inuyasha…” Kagome said, warning in her voice and eyes.

            “Keh! Fine! I get it! No cursing.”

            “Thank you.”

He picked himself up off the ground and leaped into a tree, sitting just above them, sulking. Kagome sighed, then yawned. The baby mimicked her.

“Yes, I know. I’m tired too. It’s been a long day, hasn’t it? What’s say we get ready for bed, hmm?” she said, rubbing his puppy ears and smiling at him.

The baby closed his eyes and let out a sleepy gurgle. She put him in his sling while she rolled out her sleeping bag and did her nightly things. Then Shippou hopped into her bag and settled next to her pillow as she climbed in, tucking the baby to her chest.

“Goodnight everyone,” she said.

“Goodnight, Kagome-chan.” “Goodnight, Kagome-sama.” Sango and Miroku replied, getting into their own bed roll as Kirara, in her kitten form, curled up beside them. Shippou was already asleep.

            “Goodnight, Inuyasha,” she called up to the tree.

            “Keh!” came the irritated response.

She sighed, knowing he would sulk all night, but hoping he’d be in a better mood by morning. The baby shifted against her chest and an uncomfortable ache radiated from one of her breasts. She frowned.

 _‘My breasts are awful sore. I think he’s sucking too much,_ ’ she thought to herself, moving him so he wasn’t putting pressure on her sensitive flesh any longer. She’d even left her bra on in an attempt to discourage him from trying to nurse on her while she was asleep.

It wasn’t until she was warm and comfortable and almost completely asleep, that she realized she was still wearing Inuyasha’s haori.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

 

Morning came and Kagome greeted it slowly. The baby had woken her twice the previous night by pressing against her sore breasts and she hadn’t gotten much sleep. They had been so sensitive that he hadn’t even had a chance to squirm under her top before she woke up.

She sat up, bleary-eyed, and looked to see that the others were already awake and that Sango had started breakfast.

“Morning…” she managed through parched lips. She was desperately thirsty again.

“Good morning, Kagome-chan.” “Good morning, Kagome-sama.” “Good morning, Kagome.” Sango, Miroku and Shippou greeted from around the fire.

She rubbed her eyes, then reached down to pick up the baby, and was surprised to find him not there. Coming fully awake in a sudden panic, she looked around for him.

“I’ve got him,” Inuyasha’s voice said from beside her.

She turned to see the hanyou sitting with his back to a tree. The baby was in his lap, awake but being quiet.

“Oh. Ummm…”

“He woke you twice already, so when he started fussing I took him,” Inuyasha explained.

She reached for her water bottle and drank half of it before she felt wet enough to speak.

“Thank you.”

“He’s been fed and changed already,” Inuyasha informed.

She blinked at him. “Did you change him?”

“No, I did,” Sango replied.

She looked at her friend. “Thank you.”

The older woman shrugged and patted her abdomen. “I’ll be doing it for my own baby soon enough. I need the practice.”

She nodded and stretched a bit, yawning. In that moment Inuyasha’s haori fell from her shoulders and landed on top of her sleeping bag. She shivered and was suddenly cold without it.

“Thank you for letting me sleep in this last night. I forgot I had it on,” she said, offering it to him.

He reached out and took it from her, slipping it on with the baby still in his lap; he just didn’t tuck the ends into the waist of his hakama.

“I hope you weren’t cold,” she added apologetically.

“Keh! I’m made of tougher stuff than that!”

“Mmm, I know you are,” she sighed, moving to slide out of the sleeping bag.

Suddenly, Inuyasha’s head whipped around and he was staring intently at her.

“Huh?” Kagome said, noticing his sudden snap to attention. “Inuyasha?”

His eyes narrowed and he sniffed at her, scenting the air.

“What? What is it?” she asked worriedly.

“Your scent. There’s something different about your scent.”

“What do you mean?”

His golden eyes focused on her chest and his nostrils flared. Blushing under his scrutiny of her breasts, she grabbed them and turned away, hiding them from his view, but then quickly dropped her hands.

 _‘Owww. They’re even more sore than last night…’_  she complained silently, putting her hand under her shirt to feel the tender skin. Her fingers came back damp.

“Huh?” she said, looking at her hand. She put it back under her shirt and felt again.

“What is it?” Inuyasha questioned.

“I… I’m wet…” she breathed, confused.

“Eh? What do you mean…”

With her back still to Inuyasha and the others, she slipped her hand into her bra and was shocked to find the inside of the cups to be moist. She ran her hand over her nipple and felt a new wetness on her fingers. Drawing her hand back out, she looked at the drops of pale white liquid on her fingertips.

“What?... Inuyasha…”

“Kagome-chan?” Sango’s asked. “Kagome-chan, are you alright?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“Kagome?!” Shippou cried moving to hop onto her shoulder. Inuyasha grabbed him in mid-leap.

“Oi! Stay off her. We don’t know what’s going on.”

She stared at the liquid, then felt her nipple again. More wetness came onto her fingers and she checked the other breast and found the same thing. With shaking hands, she reached out to her side.

“Inuyasha,” she whispered. “Hand me the baby.”

“Kagome, what is it?” he asked, his voice worried.

“Just… give him to me, please.”

He did as she asked, gently placing the infant in her trembling hands. Once he was in her arms, she brought him to her chest, lifting up her shirt and pulling down the soft cup of her bra, and offering the wet nipple to his mouth. As usual he latched on, but sucked half-heartedly as if he had come to expect disappointment, and for a moment Kagome sighed with relief.

 _‘So I was wrong…_ ’ she thought.  _‘Ow, this hurts…_ ’

Suddenly, however, the infant’s attitude changed and he began to suck a little harder. He turned his head to further face into her breast and increased his sucking even more, almost ecstatically, as if to say ‘Food! There’s food here!’ She gasped at the strength of it, and increase in pain. He was nursing hard and not letting go.

_‘Oh… oh my God…’_

“Kagome…” Inuyasha asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

“Kagome-chan?” “Kagome-sama?”

She turned just her head to meet Inuyasha’s worried face with a shocked face of her own.

“It’s… it’s milk. I’m… I’m making milk…”

“Milk? Kagome… are you sure?” Sango asked.

“He’s not letting up, and he’s definitely getting something. I… I can feel it…”  _‘It’s also getting less and less painful… was the pain just from me being… full?’_

“But that’s impossible. Kagome-sama this infant is not yours. How can you be making milk for him?” Miroku questioned.

“How should I know?!” she snapped back, a hint of hysteria in her voice.

She looked to Inuyasha hoping he would have some explanation. Maybe he would tell her it was some inu-youkai thing, that pups had a way of pulling milk out of dry breasts... But his face was a picture of shock and awe and… something else. He was speechless, his mouth open and his eyes wide.

“Inuyasha?”

“You’re… you’re feeding him?” he asked in a voice so soft she almost couldn’t hear it.

“Seems so,” she replied just as softly.

He took off his haori and draped it over her shoulders. “Here, so you won’t be exposed…”

 _‘Like a nursing blanket…’_  she thought, pulling the red material over her breasts and the nursing baby so that only the lower half of his blanket-wrapped body peeked out.

“Kagome… may I… smell? I promise I won’t peep.”

She nodded and slowly turned around. He knelt before her and put his nose to her chest, sniffing. He pulled back a moment later, his eyes swimming with some unnamed emotion, but she would swear his hands were shaking.

“Inuyasha?”

“You’ll need meat,” he murmured, then looked at her with wonderment. “I’ll get you meat.”

He didn’t even wait for her to answer before he was gone. She stared at the others who stared back.

“Kagome-sama, this is… this is…” Miroku began.

“Ouch,” she blurted as the baby suddenly bit down with a toothless mouth on her tender nipple.

“Kagome-chan?” Sango asked with concern.

“I think he’s finished with the one. Hold on. Let me switch him.”

Working under the haori, Kagome pulled him from her breast and turned him around so he could nurse from the other. He latched on immediately and began sucking.

“It… it’s not very much, is it?” she commented, once he’d settled into a rhythm. “I don’t think it’s enough to feed him with how much gruel he eats.”

“If you just started making milk it might take a day or two to make enough for him,” Sango offered tentatively.

“At least now we know why you have been so thirsty recently, Kagome-sama,” Miroku added.

“I just... I just don’t understand why this happened,” she said forlornly.

“You have strong miko powers and a pure and loving heart, Kagome-sama. Perhaps that has something to do with it.”

“Maybe...” she trailed off.

“It’s because you’re so loving and good, Kagome!” Shippou enthused, hopping into her lap.

She smiled softly at him then frowned.

“Ouch!”

Shippou jumped off her lap as she looked under the haori, pulling the baby from her.

“Hey! Look, I know you’re excited to get milk and all, but you have to stop biting me like that. It hurts!” she scolded the infant as she tucked him into her arms. “Sheesh, and he doesn’t even have teeth yet.”

The baby, unhappy at being pulled away from his teat, began to fuss. Kagome patted him comfortingly.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any more. You ate it all. You’re gonna have to wait.”

“There is some gruel left from this morning, Kagome-chan. Do you want me to warm it up?” Sango offered.

She gave them a suffering look. “Yes please.”  _‘If he’ll still eat it...’_

He would, although with not as much gusto as he did the milk. Shippou commented that he probably knew the difference by smell alone and preferred the milk if he had a choice. Kagome replied that she didn’t know how long it would take her to make more milk, if she was even going to make more. Because she didn’t know why she had started to lactate in the first place, she had no idea if it was going to be a continuous occurrence.

The infant had just finished eating the remainder of the gruel when Inuyasha returned carrying a dead boar and two dead carp. He saw her feeding him from the surgical glove and raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t have that much milk and he was still hungry. So...,” she explained.

He nodded and dropped his burden on the edge of the camp ground, then he used his claws to slice open the boar and drew out its liver. He offered it to her with a bloody hand.

“Here.”

She shrank back. “What?”

“Liver is very good for you. It’s full of nutrients. Eat it,” he replied.

“I’m not eating raw liver!” she shrieked.

“Why not? You drank it when I made the medicine for your cold that time.”

“What? THAT’S what was RAW?!” she yelled, horrified.

His ears twitched. “Well, not completely raw. I did put it in the boiling herbs.”

 “So that’s why Souta... Oh god, I think I’m going to be sick...”

“Kagome-sama, Inuyasha is right. Liver is very good for you,” Miroku tried.

"I am not eating raw liver!” she insisted. “I don’t care how good it is for me!”

Inuyasha tossed the liver towards the cooking pot on the fire. “Fine! We’ll cook it, but one way or the other, you’re gonna eat it because your body needs the nutrients.”

Miroku caught the liver with his fast reflexes and put it in the pot. Sango added some water for boiling, and Inuyasha gutted the carp to add their livers to the pot.

“The rest is meat,” Inuyasha said, butchering the kills with amazing efficiency. “We can take this with us. I’ll make the boar hide into a carrying sack. You should eat lots of meat and drink as much water as you can. If you are making milk for the baby, you will need twice as much food as normal.” 

They stared at him, but he wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to them. He performed his task with a single-mindedness that unnerved them, his face serious and intent. Before they were even really aware of what was happening, he had skinned and sliced off the choice cuts of meat from the boar and gutted the carp. All of this he placed on the laid out skin and wrapped up, then he took vines from a nearby tree and used them to lash the bundle together into a carrying pack.

“Oi! Monk, is that liver ready?” he asked from over his shoulder.

They snapped to attention, looking into the pot.

“Yes,” Sango answered.

“Kagome, eat it.”

“What? You think you can just order me around...” she seethed.

“Kagome-sama,” Miroku interrupted her. “Inuyasha is right. We don’t know why you started making milk, but until we understand better what is happening, you must make sure you take care of yourself. Inuyasha is just looking after your health and well-being in his usual straight-forward way.”

The monk offered her the pot with the boiled liver.

“But I hate liver...” she complained.

“It doesn’t matter,” Inuyasha argued forcefully. “If you don’t eat enough and give your body what it needs, it will take it from reserves you can’t spare. I’ve seen what happens to breeding females who don’t get enough to eat. I’m not about to let that happen to you.”

Kagome looked down into the pot and grimaced. The boiled liver looked even less appetizing than when it was raw.

_‘Does he really expect me to eat this?’_

“Oi! Will you stop staring at it and just eat it already!”

His insistence that she eat the liver made her angry. She was confused and frightened and the last thing she needed was some macho-hanyou pushing her around. She set her jaw and dug her heels in.

“I don’t want it.

“What?” he questioned, his eyes glinting.

“I said I don’t want it.”

“I don’t care if you don’t want it, eat it anyway,” he ordered gruffly.

“Just who the hell do you think you are ordering me around like that? Who died and made you my master?” she snapped.

His eyes opened wide in shock, then narrowed in rage. “I told you, you need the nutrients. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like it, your body needs it. So shut up, bitch, and eat the fucking liver!”

“Osuwari!”

Inuyasha ate dirt, then growled. “Stop doing that, bitch!”

“Osuwari! I told you not to curse in front of the baby!”

“I wouldn’t curse in front of the baby if you didn’t fucking piss me off so much!”

“Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!”

“Arrrggghhhhh!” Inuyasha screamed, then snarled when the spell released him. “If you think slamming my face into the ground is going to get you out of eating that liver, you’ve got another thing coming. We aren’t going anywhere until you eat it!”

The baby let out a distressed wail.

“Oh great! Now look what you’ve done. You’ve made him cry!” Kagome accused.

“ ** _I’ve_**  made him cry? You’re the one screaming at me to sit!”

“I wouldn’t be screaming at you if you’d stop being so stubborn!” she yelled back, trying to quiet the baby. “Shhh, shhhh. It’s okay, baby, don’t cry.”

“ ** _I’m_**  being stubborn?! I’m not the one putting myself and a helpless pup at risk! I’m not the one who suddenly started making milk for no reason for a pup that isn’t even mine! I’m not the one refusing to eat the meat brought to her so she’d be healthy! I’m not the one acting like a spoiled brat!” he replied, furious.

She opened her mouth to yell, but he cut her off.

“Stuff it! I’ve had enough. I told you we weren’t going anywhere until you ate the liver I brought you. Call me when you’ve come to your senses,” he hissed, then leaped into a tree.

She drew a deep breath to give him the ‘sitting’ of his life, when Miroku spoke softly into her anger.

“You shouldn’t punish him for worrying and trying to take care of you.”

She turned her head to look at the ex-monk, still shushing the baby who was now sniffling and giving off tiny mewling cries.

“I know how he feels,” Miroku explained gently. “My wife is pregnant and soon we will have our own baby. She will need me to provide for her and protect her while she and the newborn are vulnerable. But I will have months to prepare for this. Inuyasha fell into this suddenly without any warning. Now he has an infant to care for and a milking female to provide for and protect.

“He is just as confused and frightened as you are, Kagome-sama. You should not fight with him or take your anger and fear out on him. Fate has chosen you to be this child’s mother. That is evidenced by your milk. You need Inuyasha now more than ever, and your baby needs the both of you. Now is not the time for power struggles between you.”

“Miroku’s right, Kagome,” Shippou added. “Inuyasha smells of worry and fear. He’s scared and you know that makes him cranky. Please forgive him for being so mean and rude.”

“He’s only trying to look out for your well-being, Kagome-chan, like any good partner or mate. No matter how it might seem, Inuyasha’s heart is in the right place,” Sango said.

Even Kirara gave her a plaintive mew and rubbed against her.

Kagome frowned, hearing their words of reason, and looked down at the baby’s face. He was quieting now, but his cheeks were still discolored from his crying, and he was chewing on his fist in the way she had come to associate with him being upset.

 _‘This… this is my baby. And he needs me,_ ’ she thought sadly, feeling ashamed.  _‘He’s already lost two parents and been in mortal danger. His mother sacrificed her own life to carry him to safety, and he spent the last four days of her life smelling her blood. He shouldn’t have to suffer or lose any more people who care about him. He needs Inuyasha and me to be his new parents. He needs me to be strong and healthy so that I can take care of him.’_

Cradling his head in one hand, she drew him close to her, holding him tenderly and kissing his brow. He snuffled and nuzzled into her neck, mewling, and she patted his bottom comfortingly.

 _‘Don’t worry, baby. Kagome-kaa-san is here,_ ’ she promised.

She ate the liver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Does this actually happen in real life? YES. It is called ‘induced lactation’ and it is a documented phenomenon. I’ll explain the hows and whys in a later chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

 

It became very clear early on that Inuyasha was not speaking to her. After she had eaten the liver and they broke camp, Inuyasha jumped down from the tree he had been in and silently offered her his back. She looked to him for forgiveness, but his face was set in a neutral expression and he refused to meet her gaze. She got on his back without a word and rested her cheek on his shoulder, her hands lightly gripping the cream fabric of his kimono since she was still wearing his fire-rat haori.

No one spoke as they traveled, but towards mid-day Kagome felt a familiar soreness in her breasts and knew it was time for a pit stop.

“Inuyasha,” she said softly.

He tensed and moved his ears so she knew he was listening.

“We need to stop for a little while. The baby…”

He gave a grunt and halted at the next stream they came to that had a suitable place to rest. He set her down gently as Kirara landed and transformed into her small form.

“Kagome has to feed the baby,” the hanyou said without preamble.

Miroku and Sango nodded and Shippou jumped onto Kagome’s shoulder.

“Did you make more milk, Kagome?” the kit asked.

Kagome flushed a little as she removed the baby sling from her back.

“I think so, Shippou. It feels like it.”

“I’ll make a fire and cook some lunch for us,” Sango offered.

“That is a good idea,” Miroku agreed.

“I’ll get some firewood!” Shippou enthused and bounded off.

Kagome sat down and took the baby from his carrier. The moment he was free of it, he began to fuss so she knew he was hungry and probably needed to be changed. She saw to his dirty diaper first, cleaning him up and putting him in a fresh one. Sango took the dirty one and washed it in the stream for her, then hung it from a stick by the fire so it would dry. When he was dry and changed and wrapped back in his blanket, she drew the edge of Inuyasha’s haori over him and put him to her breast. He wasted no time in beginning to feed, and did so with enthusiasm. She patted him and rubbed his bottom as he nursed, crooning softly under her breath.

Inuyasha sat close to her. He still wasn’t speaking to her, but she could tell that he was watching her intently from the corner of his eye, and his face had that unreadable, nameless expression on it again- the one he had sported that morning, when he had asked to sniff her. She would have tried to speak to him, but then the baby bit her to signal that the first breast was empty and he was. Not. Happy. About it. She did notice, however, that he’d nursed for longer at the breast, so that suggested that she had more milk for him this time. By the time she had switched him to the other breast, Inuyasha had gone off somewhere and she wasn’t able to talk to him.

Shortly after the baby had finished nursing, and he’d been burped and settled, Inuyasha handed her a full bottle of water and two skewers of roasted boar meat. Without a word, she handed him his haori and the baby, then ate the food and drank the water while she watched him cuddle the infant close to his chest. His face was soft and gentle as he rubbed the baby’s ears- an expression very few had ever witnessed.

_‘He’s really serious about this. This baby’s ours. I guess I just didn’t get it until now. He and I… we have a child.’_

“He needs a name,” she said softly.

Inuyasha nodded but said nothing.

“We name him tonight. Start thinking about what you want to call him or I’m naming him Inu-ni.”

Inuyasha nodded again, and spoke to her for the first time in hours, “I’ve been thinking about it.”

The baby was now chewing on one of Inuyasha’s fingers but the adult hanyou didn’t seem to mind. He was growling softly under his breath in a non-menacing way that the baby seemed to understand, and scritching him under the chin. When he pulled his hand away, the baby reached out to grab the finger again, and this time he made a high-pitched sound that closely resembled a laugh.

“Did he? Did he just laugh?” Kagome asked, surprised.

“Think so.”

Inuyasha huffed air at the baby and gave another growl, this time moving to rub the baby’s ears. The baby let out another laugh and added a happy burble as he waved his tiny hands, trying to capture the elusive finger. Kagome moved close and looked down at the baby’s face. His golden eyes were wide open and he was smiling.

“He’s… he’s smiling…”  _‘It’s the first time in the week we’ve had him that he’s smiled…’_

The baby focused on her, then on the two faces looking down at him, opened his hands wide and laughed.

“I think he likes us,” she commented.

“Feh. We just feed him,” Inuyasha replied, but there was no real complaint in his voice.

“Well, you don’t feed him anymore and he’s smiling at you,” she countered.

“That’s because I keep him entertained,” he responded, waving a finger in front of the baby’s nose.

“I think it’s more than that, Otou,” she whispered low enough so only the two of them would hear her call him ‘daddy.’

His snorted. “Feh. Oyaji,” he corrected, using the ruder term.

She gave him a small laugh and a smile, then leaned close to snuggle against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she apologized.

He lowered the baby into his lap and put his arm around her. She accepted his gesture of peace and sighed happily. The baby, however, realized that he was no longer the center of attention, and protested by squirming and burbling and reaching for them with his tiny hands.

“Oi, brat. You’re ruining the mood,” Inuyasha complained, giving Kagome an amused look that told her he remembered their many ‘mood’ talks.

“Ah, that is to be expected with an infant,” Miroku informed, a slight hint of resignation and disappointment in his voice.

“And just what are you implying, bouzu?” the hanyou grumbled, a flush to his cheeks.

“Nothing, nothing,” Miroku replied innocently.

The baby protested the lack of attention more loudly.

“Oi, don’t be pushy, pup.”

“He just wants love,” Kagome said, looking down at him.  _‘I love this little orphan…’_

He saw her looking at him, smiled and gurgled at her. She giggled and tickled him with one finger, leaning down to nuzzle him with her nose. He grabbed her hair and pulled.

“Ouch! Ow ow ow ow!” she complained, wincing and carefully extracting her hair from his hold.

“Got a grip, doesn’t he?” Inuyasha teased.

“I’ll say,” she agreed, sitting back up and rubbing her sore scalp where the hair had pulled.

“Not unlike someone else I know who likes to pull hair,” he added, a wicked glint in his eyes. “In fact I recall a certain helpless girl who was being chased by an ugly centipede youkai who had a habit of yanking on a strange hanyou’s hair.”

She slapped his chest lightly. “Hey, that ‘helpless girl’ broke your seal, you know.”

He put an arm around her again and smiled. “Freed and bound me in the same breath.”

She didn’t know if he was referring to the prayer beads or something else.

“Well, you  ** _were_**  trying to kill me,” she reminded gently.

“Bah, woman, if I’d really been trying, you would have been dead in a second. I wasn’t missing you by accident,” he admitted.

“You know, I’ve always suspected that. Even back then, I didn’t believe you were really trying to hurt me. I knew from the moment I saw you, that you weren’t a bad person. I don’t think I could have broken your seal if you had been truly evil.”

“Keh, what do you know?” he groused, but she knew he wasn’t serious.

“I know lots,” she insisted, laying her head on his shoulder again as he pulled her close, as usual his mouth and his body saying the exact opposite.

The baby squirmed and burbled, refusing to be ignored.

“Keh, this pup is pushy.”

“He’s no different from other babies. He wants his parents’ attention.”

Inuyasha snorted, but rubbed the baby’s belly. “Hasn’t learned he can’t always get what he wants.”

"At least not from us,” Kagome added, scratching the baby’s ears.

The baby gurgled happily.

“Feh! We’re spoiling him.”

“Yep. He’s going to be the most spoiled hanyou baby in the world,” she agreed.

“He’s already the luckiest.”


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

 

Shortly thereafter, they doused the fire and resumed their trip back to Kaede’s village. The mood was greatly lightened now that she and Inuyasha had made up, and it wasn’t nearly so dourly quiet. Shippou, Miroku and Sango were offering suggestions for names as they traveled, some of which were offered just to tease and irritate the hanyou.

            “Yuske.”

            “No.”

            “Ginta.”

            “No.”

            “Sasuke.”

            “No.”

“Kenshin.”  
            “No.”

“Houjou.”

“Are you crazy? No!”

“Ranma.”

“No.”

“Akira?”

“No.”

“Jounouchi?”

“No.”

“Kioshi?”

“Are you kidding? This pup’s anything but ‘quiet.’ No.”

“[Azuma](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/azuma.htm)?”

“No.”

“[Ekiken](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/ekiken.htm).”

“No.”

“Goku?”

“No.”

“[Utamuro](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/utamuro.htm)?”

“No.”

“Miroku?”

“I am not naming the pup after you, you lecherous bouzu.”

“Yoh?”

“No.”

“Manta?”

“No.”

“[Rougan](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/rougan.htm)?”

“No.”

“Souta?”

“No, one irritating little brat named Souta is enough.”

“Hey, my little brother isn’t an irritating little brat!”

He gave her a look.

“Well, okay, maybe he is an irritating little brat.”

“Feh.”

“Takai,” Shippou suggested, resuming the ‘game.’

“No.”

“Naoko?”

“No.”

“Sano?”

“No.”

“Myouga?”

“Hell no!”

“Mokouba?”

“No.”

“Seto?”

“No.”

“Kouga?”

“You really do want to die, don’t you, bouzu?”

“Shinei?”

“No.”

“Tomo?”

“No.”

“Yuki?”

“Hmm, now that’s a possibility.”

“Yoshi?”

“No.”

“Tenchi.”

“No.”

“Bobu?”

“NO! Whaddya take me for? Think I’m gonna name this pup ‘Bobu?’ Are you nuts?”

“Orlando !” Kagome piped in.

“Eh? Orhh-raaannnn-dooo? What kind of a name is that?”

“He’s... he’s...” she stammered.

He turned his head to look at her from the corner of his eye- as much as she could see of his face from her place on his back.

“You’re not honestly going to tell me someone you know actually  ** _has_**  that name?”

“Well... someone I know of. Orlando Bloom. He’s an actor.”

“A what?”

“He’s stars in movies. He’s really really cute...”

“What’s a moo-veeee? And who is cute?”

“It’s... oh nevermind.”

“Fukashi!” Shippou exclaimed happily, reclaiming Inuyasha’s attention and distracting him from his jealousy.

“No.”

“Hiei.”

“No.”

“[Oritarou](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/oritarou.htm)?”

“No.”

“[Sawajirou](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/sawajirou.htm)?”

“No.”

“Haku.”

“No.”

“Jakotsu!”

“NO! Shut up all of you! I’ve had enough!”

They all laughed at Inuyasha’s ire and kept at it. Much of the afternoon passed that way, with the hanyou shooting down every suggestion, yelling occasionally, but mostly enjoying the good-hearted game.

Finally, as it approached sunset and a number of hours had passed, Kagome called the group to a halt.

“Time to feed the baby?” Inuyasha asked gently.

She nodded.

“I’ll find us a good place,” he assured.

She rested her head on the back of his shoulder. “I know you will.”

He did. He sniffed out water and brought them to a lovely forested place by a bubbling stream. It looked like others had found the spot before them because logs had been dragged and set up as makeshift benches around an old firepit. Inuyasha assured the group that no one had used the campsite for quite some time.

Kagome pulled the baby sling around to her chest and took the baby out of it as she sat down on one of the logs. She changed him and cleaned him up while the others gathered firewood and set-up camp. Inuyasha unwrapped the boar meat and carp and inspected it.

“We need to eat the fish, but the boar will last another day,” he said.

Sango nodded and took the fish from him, skewering them and setting them to roast on the fire.

“I’m going to catch more fish for the liver,” Inuyasha told her quietly, as she dried off the baby’s bottom with a towel. He was gurgling and waving his little arms and legs as she wiped him dry.

She looked up at him and took in his hopeful expression, then nodded. “Okay.”

He gave her a satisfied nod, draped his haori gently over her shoulders, and leapt off. She saw him wading into a deeper part of the stream, fully clothed except for his haori, and watched him fish as she brought the baby to her breast.

The dying sunlight was coming through the trees and reflecting off the moving water. It made flashes of light play on the surface and dance in Inuyasha’s silver hair, sending little sparks of light and rainbows off all around him.

_‘He’s beautiful...’_

He’d rolled up his kimono sleeves and was hunting intently, his arms raised up and poised to strike. Almost too fast for her human eyes to see, he swiped at the water, causing a tremendous splash, and a fish flew up, wriggling, to land on the bank where Shippou waited to put it out of its misery. She watched him do this three more times, before he turned and inspected the catch.

 _‘He’s such a good provider. He will take very good care of us,’_  she thought.

She looked around at the little camp. Sango and Miroku were rolling out their bedroll and Kirara was staring hungrily at the fish. The two looked at her and smiled, their eyes reverent and misty. She glanced down at the nursing baby, hidden but unmistakable under the red haori, and knew they were seeing their own future. She smiled back at them.

“Ouch!” she gasped as the infant signaled that it was time to move him to the next nipple.

“Did he bite you again?” Sango asked.

She frowned and grumbled, switching him. “Yes. Impatient little brat.”

“Scruff him when he does that,” Inuyasha’s voice suggested as he brought the fish to camp. They’d already been gutted and the livers were in his one hand.

“Huh?” she replied.

He gave the fish to Sango and dropped the liver into the waiting pot. Then he washed off his bloody hand, and came to sit beside her.

“A breeding bitch will take her pups by the neck and scruff them when they do something wrong. I’m sure you’ve seen dogs do this,” he explained.

“Umm... I think so.”

“Well, when he bites you like that, just give him a quick scruff and a little shake. He’ll get the message.”

“Won’t I hurt him?”

“Hell no, woman, not unless you grab him and shake him until his head falls off. Just grab him lightly on the back of his neck, and give him a squeeze and a shake,” he assured, pantomiming the action.

“Okay. I’ll try that.”

“He’s so smart, I doubt you’ll have to do it more than two or three times before he gets it.”

“He is smart, isn’t he?” she mused, smiling.

Inuyasha nodded but remained silent, his eyes focused on the nursing infant he could hear and smell, but not really see.

“Kagome... why did this happen?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know.”

“This pup... he’s not yours. You shouldn’t be making milk for him.”

“I don’t have an answer for you. I’m sorry that it makes you angry,” she answered.

His eyes opened wide in shock. “You think I’m angry about it?”

“Aren’t you? You’ve been irritable and on edge since this morning.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad. Confused and distressed, but not mad.”

“I’m confused too, about some things. Why this happened, how it’s possible. Things like that,” she admitted.

“But there is something I’m not confused about any more. You’re right that this baby didn’t come from me. Your seed didn’t conceive him and I didn’t carry him. We are not his true parents. However, he is  ** _ours_**  now. My body has claimed him with this milk, and you have assumed the father role without even hesitating. Tonight you will take the father’s right and name your son. So it really doesn’t matter the ‘why’s or ‘how’s, only that it is, and we have accepted it.”

He nodded in agreement, and grew pensive, looking at her. She met his eyes and a deep emotion passed between them: love, commitment, contentment. The tender moment was broken by the baby biting down. Kagome gasped then did as Inuyasha suggested, grabbing him by the back of his neck and giving him a light shake. The baby jerked with surprise, released her nipple and went immediately limp.

“Did it work?” Inuyasha asked.

“He just went limp.”

The hanyou nodded. “That means he knows he’s done something wrong and he’s submitting. He might not know exactly why he was punished, but do that when he bites you another couple of times and he’ll figure it out.”

She nodded, gently pulled the baby from her breast and drew him out from underneath the haori. He was staring at her with frightened eyes, his little face screwed up with confusion and worry. She hurried to reassure him, bringing him to her shoulder and cuddling him as she burped him.

“Poor little guy. You weren’t expecting that, were you? Well, you can’t keep biting me like that. You’ve got strong hanyou jaws and once you get teeth, you might really do me some damage. So you have to learn now that biting Kagome-kaa-san isn’t acceptable.”

He snuffled into her neck and mewled, grabbing onto the shoulder of the haori with his tiny fists. She rubbed his back and patted his bottom, cooing so he would know he was forgiven.

“Here, let me have him for a bit. I want to look into his eyes,” Inuyasha said, holding out his hands.

Kagome placed the baby gently into his arms and he positioned the baby so they were face to face. The two hanyous looked at each other for long moments, Inuyasha’s face serious and thoughtful. Something was definitely going on between them, and Inuyasha was obviously figuring a few things out by looking into the baby’s golden eyes.

Seeing them like that, Kagome realized how much they looked like each other. The faces were completely different, but still fine boned and well-chiseled, and well proportioned. The hair, of course, was the same silver, and their eyes matched as well. It was easy to see that the child would become as handsome as his adopted father.

_‘He almost could be Inuyasha’s son.’_

“So,” Inuyasha began, placing the pup in his lap and giving him a finger to gnaw on. “Tell me about this person you think is cute.”

“Eh? Who?” Kagome blurted.

“That guy. The one with the funny name.”

“Orlando Bloom?” she offered.

“Yeah, him. Who is he?”

“I already told you, he’s an actor who stars in movies.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” he admitted, looking at her.

“The moving picture box at my house? Remember? He’s on that sometimes.”

Inuyasha blinked. “He’s in the box?”

“Sometimes.”

She saw him trying to work it out. Contrary to popular belief, she knew Inuyasha  ** _was_**  one of the smart ones. He was very smart, he just hid it well.

“So, you don’t really know him,” he finally said.

“No. I just see his picture.”

“And you think he’s cute,” he commented leadingly.

She didn’t take the bait. “A lot of girls my age think he’s cute.”

He nodded once. “Ah. But… he is not close to you? He is far away in the box?”

“Yes. Very far away. He lives in America .”

“Ahh-mmmerrr-eee-caaahhhh? Where’s that?”

“Across the ocean. You’ve seen it. My world map, remember? I pointed it out to you,” she reminded.

He nodded again, remembering. “Yes. Your… at-las.”

“Exactly,” she replied, smiling that he remembered the term.

“It is good he is far away. Then I won’t have to kill him and you won’t be sad.”

“Inuyasha!” she scolded, shocked.

He gave her a stern look. “What? We have a pup now. You can’t be flirting and going off after other males anymore. And that includes that damn wimpy wolf!”

She huffed. “I don’t flirt with Kouga. Besides, we haven’t seen him in months.”

“Yes, but he never misses an opportunity to come sniffing around when he catches your scent.”

She gave him a tolerant look. “We’re friends, Inuyasha, nothing more. I don’t know why you are still so insecure about it.”

Inuyasha picked the baby up from his lap and held him close because he was squirming a bit, wanting to be entertained. He was fed and changed and now it was playtime- as much as an infant his age could ‘play.’ Usually it just meant he gurgled a lot and grabbed at whatever came into reach. He didn’t care that his parents were having a conversation- or trying to at least.

“He’ll kill the pup. You know this, right?” Inuyasha told her.

Kagome gasped. “He’ll what?”

Now it was his turn to give her a tolerant look. “Kouga will kill the pup. One, because he is a hanyou. Two, because he is under your care, and rival males have a habit of killing the whelps of the other male so the female will come into heat and have new pups. Three, because he is under my care, and he’d do it because  ** _I’m_**  the rival male. Kouga is very dangerous to this pup,” he explained very seriously, showing his intelligence and grasp of the situation.

“Inuyasha is right, Kagome-sama,” Miroku confirmed, reminding the two of them that they weren’t alone. “Kouga would try to kill the pup in order to sever your tie with Inuyasha. He would do it instinctively.”

Kagome glared and stamped back her sudden rush of maternal rage. “No one is touching my baby.”

Inuyasha nodded in approval at her protectiveness. “If he shows his ugly face, you have to do everything you can to make sure he can’t touch the pup. If he gets his hands on him, it’s all over. He’ll kill the pup before you have a chance to draw your bow.”

“If you sense him coming, Kagome-chan, give the baby to Kirara. Kouga may be fast, but he can’t fly,” Sango suggested.

Kirara mewed an assent.

“I’ll go with him,” Shippou added.

Kagome nodded in agreement and looked to the baby, missing him in her arms, but Inuyasha was holding him protectively against his shoulder, although he was looking at her with his big golden eyes. She smiled at him and rubbed his ears. He burbled at her and smiled back.

“Dinner is ready everyone,” Sango announced, breaking the sudden dour mood.

The fish was served, with Kagome getting the choicest portions (plus the livers, which she ate without protest, although she did make a nasty face) and they enjoyed the meal. The fish Inuyasha had caught on both occasions were large and one was enough to feed both Shippou and Kirara, leaving the remaining five to be split among the adults. Kagome noticed that Inuyasha restricted his portions in deference to making sure she got enough to eat, and only went for seconds when he knew she’d been satisfied. In the end, each of them had consumed a single fish, with Inuyasha eating half of the last one and giving the remainder to Shippou who was still hungry. Funny how his paternal leanings were now bleeding over to include the kitsune kit as well.

After dinner they all sat around the fire. Kagome had returned Inuyasha’s haori to him and he now wore it again as he held the baby in his lap.

“Okay, Inuyasha. It’s time to name the baby,” Kagome said seriously.

Inuyasha looked at her and nodded, his eyes dropping down to the infant who was dozing in his lap.

“Have you given any thought to what you would like, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked.

“I don’t want anything fancy. Or too long. Or too complicated. But I want it to fit him, and I want it to be a name he can live with,” the hanyou answered.

“What about Kentaro?” Shippou suggested. “He looks like he’ll be a big boy.”

Inuyasha shook his head. “That would fit only until he was a man.”

“Kisho means one who knows his own mind,” Sango offered.

Inuyasha smiled. “Well, he does at that, doesn’t he? But… it doesn’t fit.”

“You could name him Kin, for his eyes,” Shippou said.

The adult hanyou gave it some serious thought, then he picked up the infant and looked into his eyes.

“What do you think, pup? You wanna be named Kin?”

Two sleepy golden eyes blinked at him, then the pup made a face that Inuyasha had come to associate with him soiling his diaper. A moment later a noxious smell assaulted his nose. He sneezed and handed the baby to Kagome for changing.

“I don’t think he likes that one.”

Kagome giggled and set to getting the baby into a clean diaper. They were quiet as she did this, waiting, and when she was finished, she handed him back to Inuyasha, but without his blanket, so he was dressed only in the cloth diaper and nothing else.

“You liked Yuki earlier today,” she reminded.

“Yes, but… it’s too girl-ish. I wanted a boy’s name,” Inuyasha replied, holding the pup by his sides, his face very serious.

There was a long silence as Inuyasha looked into the pup’s eyes again, then he sighed and closed his eyes, thinking.

“Yukio,” he finally said.

“Yukio?” Kagome repeated.

Inuyasha looked at her then the rest of the group. “It fits. It has two meanings, ‘snow boy’ which is obvious, but it also means ‘gets what he wants’ which fits him even more. It’s simple and masculine and suits him.”

“I like it,” Kagome agreed.

Inuyasha nodded once, then held the baby up for the rest of them to see. “Yukio. This child’s name is Yukio.”

“Yukio,” they all repeated in unison, acknowledging the name.

“Well, it wasn’t an official naming ceremony, but it’s good enough, right?” Inuyasha said, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“Give him to me. I will make a blessing,” Miroku offered.

Inuyasha obligingly handed Yukio to him, and the ex-monk made a gesture and a prayer over the infant’s forehead. When he was finished, he gave him back to Inuyasha who had his blanket waiting.

“Thank you, Miroku-sama,” Kagome said, genuinely thankful as Inuyasha passed Yukio to her.

“It was an honor,” the ex-monk replied.

She smiled at him, then looked down at the baby happily, taking his two hands in her own and kissing his nose.

“Yukio. You’ll grow up big and strong and surrounded by people who love you, you pushy little stinker.”

Yukio burbled and laughed, giving her a toothless grin. The rest of the group laughed with him, his happy mood infectious, and Inuyasha placed an arm around Kagome. She looked up at him and smiled softly, then nuzzled her head under his chin with a content sigh. Shippou came up to sit on Inuyasha’s knee and look at the baby, and the four of them painted a picture of familial bliss; an image that was not lost on the remaining observers. Sango reached over to hold her husband’s hand, a soft, wistful smile on her lips.

“Inuyasha,” Miroku began, then waited for the hanyou to turn his attention to him.

Kagome pulled back slightly from Inuyasha’s shoulder, but did not leave his loose embrace. Shippou looked his way as well, and Yukio, by virtue of how he was being held.

“Yeah, monk?”

“There is another meaning to the name Yukio,” he said.

“Another meaning?” Kagome repeated.

Miroku nodded seriously. “Yes. It can also mean nourished by Kami.”

“Eh?” Kagome gasped.

Inuyasha blinked, then looked at Kagome, a pleased smile widening his mouth. “Nourished by Kami, eh? Well, that fits too.”

Kagome shivered under his intense gaze and blushed furiously.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

           

“Hmmmmm,” Kaede said, her face serious and thinking. “And you say Kagome just started making milk for the baby?”

Inuyasha nodded even as the object of their conversation sat not a meter from them, red haori draped over her shoulders and Yukio nursing noisily in the small hut.

“Yes. One morning her scent was different and then she said she was wet and wanted the pup. When I gave him to her, she put him to her breast and he started nursing,” Inuyasha replied.

“But that was nothing new, Kaede-obachan,” Kagome interrupted. “Yukio often squirmed under my pajama top and tried to get milk from me. The difference was that this time, there was actually milk there for him. It was just a little at first, but I’ve been making more and more, and he’s been feeding more often, about six times a day now, almost every four hours, except at night.”

Kaede nodded. “Your body is adapting to the baby’s needs.”

“Kaede-babaa,” Inuyasha said. “Do you know why this happened?”

“Hmmm… it’s not unheard of for a woman to make milk for a baby that is not hers, although usually it happens in a woman who has already had at least one child. It is not understood why it happens or how, but sometimes a woman can force milk to come by letting a baby nurse from her,” the elderly miko responded.

“So you’re saying that by letting Yukio nurse from me all those times, I actually forced my body to make milk?” Kagome asked.

“That is one explanation, however, if it is, then it would be the first time I have seen it in a young maiden who has never borne a child.”

“It was suggested that Kagome’s miko powers might have something to do with it,” Inuyasha added.

“It is possible, but more likely it is Kagome’s loving heart.”

Inuyasha digested the reply, his face intent. “So… she wanted to feed him.”

“On some level of her mind, yes, and her body answered her wish by making milk.”

“Wish?” Kagome repeated, a sudden frightening thought entering her mind. “Kaede-sama, could… could the Shikon shards have done this?”

“Unlikely, child,” came the immediate answer. “The Shikon no Tama can grant wishes and increase an individual’s power. However, in order to do that one must either implant or touch the shards or channel power through them. You do not do any of those things.”

Kagome sighed with relief. She’d been involved with the cursed jewel too long not to be wary of  ** _any_**  possible influence it might have, no matter how benign it might seem at first.

“Well, that makes me feel a lot better,” she admitted.

Yukio made a noise that sounded like a combination of a whimper and a soft bark. It was his signal for ‘next please’ and he only made it when it was time for her to switch nipples for him. Kagome responded appropriately and soon he was happily eating away.

True to Inuyasha’s prediction, she had only had to scruff Yukio three times before he figured out that it was the biting that was getting him punished. But what’s a poor pup to do when the breast runs dry? He began to emit a little whimper in anticipation of being punished and soon the noise was all he needed to make. He quickly customized it to be unique from any other sound he made, and only made it once to signal Kagome to give him the other breast. He had a separate sound for when he was finished, or at least when the milk was all gone, that prompted her to burp and cuddle him.

His adaptation proved three things. One: he was extremely intelligent, but that was already known. Two: he understood the use of sound as a means of communicating; something that also suggested that he would be talking a lot sooner than most babies. And three: that he could count, or at least he knew that he only got switched between nipples ONCE during a feeding, so he only needed to make the ‘next please’ noise once.

“But now, I have a whole new problem,” she sighed.

“What’s that, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked.

“Do you realize what day it is? I’m supposed to go back tomorrow because I have three tests next week and I have to go in to get my assignments. What am I going to do with Yukio?” she complained.

Inuyasha huffed. “Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? You can’t go. You’ll have to stay here.”

“Inuyasha,” she growled in a tone of voice that usually preceded a string of ‘osuwari’s. “That is not an option and you know it.”

“What are you going to do with the pup then? You don’t know if you can take him through the well. And what are you going to do with all your milk?” he replied, his voice almost -almost- a whine.

“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll have to try to take him with me.”

“Who will watch him while you’re in school?”

“I dunno. Mama or Jii-chan probably.”

Inuyasha gaped at her. “You’re not leaving our pup with either of them! They don’t know the first thing about caring for a hanyou pup.”

“It’s not that different than caring for a human baby. He eats, sleeps and dirties his diaper,” Kagome replied drolly.

“No. I won’t have it. Kagome, I refuse,” he stated firmly, folding his arms defiantly.

“You refuse, huh. Well then I guess you’re going with me.”

“Eh?”

“Well, I’m going home no matter what you say. I’m going to try to take Yukio with me. I suspect that I’ll be able to as long as I carry him. Since you refuse to let my mother or grandfather watch Yukio, it stands to reason that the only other person able to do it is you,” she clarified reasonably.

Inuyasha sputtered indignantly. “I’m not going to your world just to play babysitter!”

“And why not? Yukio is your son as much as he is mine and that means being responsible for him no matter where we are.”

Kaede chuckled. “She speaks true, Inuyasha.”

“You stay out of this, babaa!” he snapped.

“Hey! What did I say about cursing in front of the baby?” Kagome warned.

“What? I’m not allowed to say ‘babaa’ anymore?”

“Well… it is rather rude…”

“ ** _I’m_**  rather rude! Or so you and the others keep telling me. And don’t try to change the subject!”

Kagome sighed. “Inuyasha. You know I have to go. I can’t miss the tests and I have to get my school work. Please, don’t fight me on this. Don’t make me subdue you in order to go home. I hate doing it.”

Inuyasha scowled and looked away. “Feh.”

Kagome knew him well enough to know that his ‘feh’ meant that she would get her way. As always, it was an empty victory because half the time she was fighting to return to a place she really  ** _didn’t_**  want to return to. Oh it was wonderful to see her family and enjoy all the luxuries of the modern era, but as for the rest… for school and tests and seeing her girlish friends who never thought about anything more serious than make-up, boys and hair… She’d seen and done too much in the past two years for them to be able to relate to her, and she had long ago outgrown them.

Yukio made his ‘I’m finished’ noise and she drew him up, cuddling him and burping him gently. He’d taken to snuffling her and gurgling into her neck when she patted him, his soft warm breath tickling her skin, and it always pulled on her heart-strings when he did it. She adored the infant completely and loved him as much as she had come to love Inuyasha.

_‘And what about this? What will my friends think of me having a baby? It’ll be bad enough with Mama at first, but how could they ever understand? My place really is here with Inuyasha. Every time I go back I realize that I belong there less and less._

_‘But how can I leave my family? And what of the end of our Quest? We **will**  find all the shards and we  **will**  complete The Shikon no Tama. But what will happen then? Will Kikyou come to claim her former lover and rob Yukio of his second father- the only father he is going to remember? What will become of me? Of us?’_

Yukio, ever sensitive to his adoptive mother’s moods, began to fret and fuss.

“Oi, is the pup okay?” Inuyasha asked, hearing the noises of distress.

Kagome bounced him a little bit and cooed. “I think he just has a little gas,” she lied.

They were quiet for a few minutes as Kagome patted and soothed the distressed baby. When he settled, Inuyasha spoke softly.

“So... tomorrow. The well. What are we going to do about the well?”

“What about the well?” Kagome asked.

He gave her an irritated look. “What do we do if it won’t let him through? And how do we test it without risking his safety?”

She looked at the baby who was now trying to doze. “Oh. Ummm... I thought I’d just hold him to my chest when I jumped in.”

“And have him splatter all over the bottom of the well if you go through but he doesn’t?”

Her eyes opened wide. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“We have to think of a way to keep him from getting hurt if he can’t go through.”

“Ummm... maybe you could lower me into the well and put me down slowly, that way if he can’t go through, he’ll just be left behind at the bottom of the well.”

Inuyasha nodded, noticing a coil of rope on the hut floor. “That might work.” He pointed to the rope. “Kaede-babaa?”

“Go ahead, Inuyasha,” the older woman replied.

Inuyasha picked up the rope and inspected it. “If we make a harness with this and put it around you, I could lower you into the well.”

“And I can hold Yukio above my head so my hands will be the last thing to go through.”

“Maybe the monk can stand at the bottom and be ready to catch him if he gets stuck,” Inuyasha suggested,

“But what if that happens? What if he gets stuck? What do we do?”

Inuyasha looked at her, but had no answer, or rather she knew what he’d say, but he wasn’t about to voice it for fear of getting sat.

“I have to go. You know I do,” she insisted.

He sighed and lowered his eyes. “Then I will stay with the pup and care for him until you get back. He can eat the gruel again if he has to. I don’t know what you are going to do with all of your milk. What if you dry up with no pup to nurse on you?”

“I can pump it. Make my body think he’s still nursing.”

“And do what with it?”

“Throw it away I guess. It’ll spoil before I have a chance to bring it back, unless I freeze it.”

Inuyasha looked stricken. “You’d just... throw your milk out?”

Kagome shrugged. “I don’t know what else I could do with it. If I don’t pump it then I might dry up, and if he’s not there to nurse from me...”

He looked away, his face sad and Kagome didn’t know why it affected him so strongly. His forlorn expression struck her in her heart and she ached.

“But listen, Inuyasha. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue. I think the well will let him through because one of us will be carrying him. We carry things through the well with us all the time. I don’t see how this is any different.”

“We’ve never tried to carry anything living through,” he pointed out.

“True, but I do think it will be okay. Kaede-obachan, what do you think?”

“Hmmmm, I think there is a good chance that the well will recognize the baby as belonging to you and Inuyasha, and let him through,” the old miko replied sagely.

Kagome looked at her, then at Inuyasha. “See. Kaede feels the same way I do. I think it is going to be fine.” She looked down at Yukio and stroked his ears. “I just don’t know what I am going to do with him if he can go through. My mother… We’ll have to explain to her right away, and even then she’ll probably be very upset.”

“Bah! Your mother is a good woman, and a good mother. She will understand,” Inuyasha answered.

“Inuyasha…” she gasped, pleased that he had such a high opinion of her mother.

“I think our biggest concern is getting the pup through the well. Once he is safely through the well, the rest will be taken care of by me,” he assured.

“I know, and I’m sure it won’t be a problem. The well will let Yukio through; I’m sure of it.”

“We’ll find out tomorrow, won’t we,” he answered, standing. “For now, I am going hunting. You need more liver. There is liver in your time, yes, Kagome?”

She made a face. “Yes… but, I don’t think I want to eat it. It is different here. There are no chemicals or preservatives in the food here. Back home food is processed and treated, and animals are fed questionable food. I don’t think the liver of my time will be as good as the liver here.”

He gave her a knowing look. “You just want to get out of eating it. I’m on to you, wench,” he teased, a wry smile on his lips.

“I’m serious, Inuyasha. I eat the liver you bring me here, but I have doubts about the liver at home.”

“Feh, then I’ll just hunt enough here to bring enough liver to your time. We know we can take food across the well both ways.”

Kagome gasped as a memory hit her. “That’s right. I brought those youkai himono with me that one time.  ** _They_**  were alive.”

“Hmmm. Well, we should still be careful and lower you in,” he answered.

“Of course. I want to be safe.”

He gave her a tender smile and exited the hut, leaving her alone with Yukio and Kaede.

 

The following day was quite the production in Kagome’s opinion. It seemed Inuyasha weaved and reweaved and re-reweaved the harness from Kaede’s rope about four dozen times before he was satisfied that it would hold without biting into her armpits. She didn’t see any difference in the multiple permutations he came up with but wisely kept her mouth shut. She’d long ago learned never to interfere with a hanyou on a ‘mission.’

When the time came, she wrapped up Yukio and packed her bag, and the whole entourage, Kaede included, made their way to the Bone-Eater’s Well. Miroku climbed down into the well and stood at the bottom. He would be there to catch Yukio the moment he hit solid ground if the well didn’t let him through. The others watched as Inuyasha put the harness on Kagome, then put it on her again, then put it on her again, until she snapped and threatened to ‘sit’ him if he didn’t stop messing with it. While his fussing and protective worry was endearing, it was getting on her nerves. Then she put her bag on her back, picked up Yukio and sat on the edge of the well. She leaned over the edge and waited until the harness pulled tight, then she let go of the ledge, allowing Inuyasha to lower her down.

She saw Miroku waiting at the bottom and smiled at him, a sudden nervousness hitting her. What if the well  ** _didn’t_**  let Yukio though? Underneath her, she already began to see the flashes of light that signaled the opening of the time slip and Miroku’s shocked face as he witnessed it up close for the first time. The ground beneath him, of course, stayed perfectly solid, but as her feet reached the bottom, they sunk right in. In keeping with the plan, she lifted Yukio above her head, thankful that he was being quiet because ‘mother was moving’ and closed her eyes, cringing as she began to go into the slip.

 _‘Please, please, please...’_  she silently begged.  _‘Please let him through.’_

The feel of him never left her hands as she felt herself be fully engulfed by the time slip. Then the harness went slack and she was free falling, Yukio still in her hands, and she knew that Inuyasha had released the rope the moment the well let Yukio pass with her. Elation filled her and she drew the baby to her chest, allowing herself to fall through time and land, still cradling him, on the other side.

“Whew,” she sighed, allowing the tension she’d been feeling to fade out of her body. “Well, one obstacle down... a billion more to go.”

Beside her the time slip opened and Inuyasha came through, his face belying his worry and then his relief at seeing them both safe.

“Heh,” he said, a cocky smirk on his lips. “So it worked. I knew it would.”

She stood up, rolling her eyes. “Of course. Never any doubts,” she said dryly.

He took her backpack, slinging itover one shoulder, and put his arm around her, smiling as he lifted her up out of the well. Kagome paused as he slid open the well-house doors, her heart catching in her throat. She knew what lay beyond those innocent-looking doors. The time had come to face her mother.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

 

            Kagome held Yukio close to her chest as they approached the house. Inuyasha, feeling her distress but not really understanding it, stayed close to her as they walked across the shrine grounds. Just as they were approaching the doors, they slid open and Souta ran out, almost hitting them.

            “Ittekimasu!” he was calling, then skidded to an abrupt halt in front of them.

“Nee-chan! Inu-no-niichan!! Mama! Nee-chan’s back and she’s brought Inu-no-niichan with her!!”

            Kagone gulped, knowing her mother would now be waiting for her inside.

            “Souta,” she greeted, managing a strained smile.

            “Nee-chan. It’s good to see you!” her little brother enthused, then he noticed that something had moved in his sister’s arms, something with ears, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s that? Did you bring a puppy with you?”

            Kagome blushed. “Ahh... no, Souta... Weren’t you on your way out?” she said, trying to distract him.

            “I was just going to Yugi’s house. What have you got, Nee-chan?”

            “Ah, Kagome, Okaeri,” her mother greeted, coming to the doors.

            “Mama,” she breathed, her heart catching in her throat.

            Yukio took that exact moment to let out a cry in response to her sudden fear. She saw her mother’s eyes open wide and her face go pale. Kagome cringed, gripping Yukio even tighter against her.

            “Mama, I can explain.”

            “Kagome, what have you done?” her mother demanded softly, disbelievingly.

            Inuyasha chose to make matters much, much worse by saying matter-of-factly, “Kagome’s mother, we have a pup now.”

            If her mother’s face could have gotten any paler, Kagome didn’t know, but she saw her reach out to grip the edge of the door to keep herself standing.

            “Mama, it’s not like that...”

            “Come inside, Kagome,” her mother interrupted in a voice that brooked no argument.

            “Oh, nee-chan, I think you’re in trouble,” Souta said, edging away. “I’m gonna go to Yugi’s house now. Bye!”

             The fifth-grader dashed off as fast as his legs could carry him.

             _‘Sheesh, what a coward,’_  Kagome thought, then steeled herself to face her mother’s wrath.

            Mama had already gone into the house and was waiting for her in the kitchen. Inuyasha stayed close to her as she took off her shoes and slowly walked to her fate. Yukio was fussing and fretting, and not making the situation any better.

            “Here, give him to me,” Inuyasha offered. “The scent of your worry is just making him worse.”

            Reluctantly, she handed the baby over and he settled into Inuyasha’s arms, quieting somewhat.

            They entered the kitchen and Kagome waited, her eyes down, for her mother to speak.

            “You have two minutes to explain yourself, Kagome.”

            “He’s an orphan. Both his parents are dead. His mother lived long enough to bring him to Kaede’s village. He’s a hanyou like Inuyasha. Inuyasha and I... we’ve adopted him,” she blurted.

            The older woman looked at her, then at Inuyasha. “So he’s not yours and he’s not Inuyasha’s,” she said.

            “No. He is an inu-youkai hanyou like Inuyasha and looks just like him, but Inuyasha is not his father,” Kagome replied honestly.

            “I see.”

            “We’ve taken him in. His name is Yukio,” she added.

            “Yukio,” her mother repeated.

            There was a short silence, then her mother sighed. “Kagome, how do you intend to care for this child?”

            She looked up at her mother, feeling some small measure of relief. “It’s not that hard. Back in the Feudal Era, I have lots of help, and Inuyasha hunts for me.” She lowered her eyes, pensive. “It’s here that will be difficult. Back there, it’s easy.”

            “What do you feed him?”

            “I...”

            “Kagome makes milk for him!” Inuyasha answered brightly.

            He said it with such pride and enthusiasm, as it if were the most amazing thing that had ever happened, but Kagome felt her whole world come crashing down around her at sight of her mother’s face.

            “Makes milk? Kagome, are you nursing this baby?”

            Kagome blushed and cringed and Inuyasha gave her a confused look.

            “Yes, Mama.”

            “But you said he’s not yours,” her mother said, her voice dangerously soft.

            “He isn’t! But... I’d sleep with him and he’d crawl under my shirt at night and try to get milk. A few days later, I started leaking milk. Kaede-obachan said it happens sometimes when a woman lets a baby nurse from her...”

            “You let the baby nurse from you when you didn’t have any milk?”

            Kagome was really starting to panic now. She could tell her mother was furious and she didn’t know how to make it any better.

            “Y... yes. He was hungry and it would wake me up so I would feed him his gruel, and I thought he was missing his mother so much and I didn’t mind and after a while I...”

            “STOP!”

            The woman said it with such force that even Inuyasha jumped and put himself protectively in front of Kagome.

            “You are going to a doctor,” her mother said coldly.

            “Doctor? Mama, I can’t take him to a doctor! He’s a hanyou like Inuyasha. They’ll think he’s deformed!” she argued.

            Beside her, Inuyasha made a choked sound but she ignored him.

            “I didn’t say the baby was going to the doctor. I said YOU are going to the doctor. I will make the appointment and take you.”

            Kagome blinked. “Why?...” she began, then stopped, her heart growing cold. “You... you don’t believe me. You think I’m lying about Yukio...”

            Her mother turned a hard gaze to Inuyasha. “And you. You are no longer permitted to be with my daughter unchaperoned, and you are forbidden to sleep in her room.”

            “Huh? What the hell does that mean?”

            “It means we’re not allowed to be alone together anymore,” Kagome explained.

            “Why? We haven’t done anything wrong! And the pup...” Inuyasha argued, getting upset.

            “As for the baby, Kagome you will give him to me and I will watch him...”

            “NO,” she replied immediately. “No, I will not. I will go to the doctor with you and I will make sure Inuyasha and I are not alone together, but Yukio is mine and no one is taking him away from me.”

            “Kagome...”

            “I’ll leave and never come back. I swear I will! I’ll go through the well and stay there on the other side. Don’t think I won’t! Inuyasha would take me out of here in a heartbeat and no one would be able to stop him,” she threatened, meaning every word.

            Her mother’s eyes narrowed and Kagome could tell she was assessing her daughter’s sincerity. She tried to put her conviction into her eyes and the stubborn set of her jaw. Beside her, Inuyasha began to growl, deep and low in his throat, and Yukio grew still and quiet, very, very quiet. Inuyasha passed him to her and put an arm around her waist. His body was tense, ready to spring. All she had to do was say the word and he’d leap right through the wall of the house if he had to, or blow a hole with Tessaiga. Kaze no Kizu would waste the entire building, but she knew he wouldn’t think twice about doing it if he thought they were in danger.

            It was a tense stand-off and Kagome wondered who would give in first, then her mother dropped her eyes and sighed.

            “Alright. Keep him for now.”

            “For now?” Inuyasha repeated, his voice almost a snarl.

            “If this child is detrimental to my daughter’s health, I will do everything in my power to keep it from her,” the older woman replied. “Now I am going to call my OB/GYN and see if I can get you an appointment for tomorrow.”

            It was a clear dismissal and Kagome took the opportunity to grab Inuyasha’s arm and back him out of the room.

             _‘Oh God, that was horrible. What… what am I going to do?’_

            She was close to tears and nauseous with upset, her hands shaking. Inuyasha was fuming, his hands clenched into tight fists.

            “Baka,” Inuyasha grumbled. “Foolish woman to think he is yours. And just when would you have carried and birthed him? We return to this wretched place twice a moon, and even youkai pregnancies last longer than that. Breeding bellies are hard to hide. She’s not making any sense. And to make you feel so poorly and to threaten to take Yukio...”

 _‘You’ve never see my mom like that, have you? Your only memories of her are of when she is happy and pleased and helpful. You’ve never seen her when she’s mad. I’m sorry, Inuyasha. I should have warned you,’_  she thought sadly.

            “Don’t worry, Inuyasha. If it comes to it, we’ll leave and not come back. I meant what I said,” she assured.  _‘I’m not giving up my baby.’_

            “You’d... you’d really sacrifice your life here to keep the pup?” he asked, his voice soft and laced with wonder.

            She looked sharply at him and saw the open, touched look on his face.  _‘What is this? He’s been like this ever since my milk came in...’_

            “Absolutely,” she replied with conviction. “No one is taking Yukio away from me.”

            If anything his face softened even more and she swore his eyes grew watery, but he looked away too fast. Boldly, she took his hand, feeling the rough callused palm close tentatively over her own.

            “No one is taking the pup away from us,” she amended.

            He met her gaze, his eyes as serious and determined as hers, and nodded once. Yukio fussed, drawing their attention and Inuyasha crinkled his nose.

            “He’s dirty.”

            Kagome nodded. “And I should feed him as well. C’mon.”       

            Knowing that there would be Hell to pay if she tried to go up to her room, she went into the living room instead. She lowered herself down to sit on one of the floor cushions and Inuyasha draped his haori over her shoulders the way he always did when she was about to nurse the baby. He sat next to her, putting himself into a protective position against anyone or anything that might come through the doors.

            As she reached for her bag to get a clean diaper, movement from the side caught her attention and she looked up to see her grandfather sitting on the other side of the room. The look on his face told her that he had heard everything she and her mother had argued about. Flushing, and feeling very exposed, she lowered her gaze and returned to what she was doing, her hands trembling.

            Jii-chan came to sit in front of her as she laid Yukio on the floor on his spread out blanket and took off his soiled diaper. She could tell he was watching her intently, following her movements as she wiped the baby clean and dried his tender skin. When she turned to pick up the clean diaper, she saw him stretch out a hand to touch the baby. Her first instinct was to slap it away, grab Yukio and run, but oddly, Inuyasha placed a gentle hand on her wrist. She looked at him and saw that he and her grandfather were staring at each other.

            After a few tense moments, Inuyasha gave a very small nod and Jii-chan picked Yukio up. He was still naked and Kagome wanted to warn her grandfather that the baby might soil him, but the look on the man’s face stopped her. He was looking to the infant’s eyes, holding him lightly under the arms with his wrinkled, wizened hands. Yukio, to his credit, didn’t fuss, but looked up at the man who held him and raised a grasping hand.

            Jii-chan closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. He placed Yukio in his lap, reached up and pulled the charm he had around his neck over his head. He used the knots on the cord to shorten its length, ignoring the baby that grabbed at the stone and batted it with clawed hands, then he gently slipped it over Yukio’s head, letting it rest on his small chest. Yukio looked at it and played with it, then stuck it in his mouth. Jii-chan gently pulled it out, running one finger over the baby’s lips, before placing a hand on Yukio’s forehead and making a small prayer.

            “Jii-chan...” Kagome breathed with gratitude and surprise, recognizing the blessing.

            “Forgive your mother for behaving badly. She is very worried about you,” he told her as he gently placed Yukio back on his blanket.

            “Hai, Jii-chan. Arigato,” she replied, quickly putting on the clean diaper and wrapping him back up.  _‘I’d wanted to get new diapers and new clothes for him while I was here, and maybe a new carrier but...’_

            She picked him up, tucking him under the haori, preparing to feed him. He knew what was coming and started to gurgle happily as she lifted her shirt and raised him to her breast. He found the nipple on his own without any prompting, and she sighed with relief at the feel of him nursing, the tension running out of her shoulders and back. Inuyasha came close and put an arm around her, and she relaxed in his loose embrace. This was normal. This was her world: Yukio and Inuyasha’s arms.

_‘He likes to be close when I feed the baby. There’s something there. Something deep and old. It comes into his eyes when he sees me with Yukio. Whatever it is, it softens him and brings out his tender side. Yukio has brought us so much closer together.’_

            Yukio brought out her tender side too. She was gentler with Inuyasha, more patient and tolerant. She hadn’t ‘sat’ him in three days- not since the morning her milk came in and they’d had that awful fight over the liver. Speaking of liver...

            “Inuyasha?”

            “Hm?”

            “Where’s the liver?”

            “In your bag.”

            “It needs to be put in the refrigerator... the cold box in the kitchen.”

            “Now?”

            “Soon.”

            “Ok.”

            He didn’t move and she was content to let him stay there. Another twenty minutes wouldn’t make a difference. A few moments later a shadow fell over them and Inuyasha tensed. She looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on her face as she watched her nurse the baby.

            “Your appointment is for eleven ‘o clock tomorrow morning. We’ll leave here around ten to get there on time,” her mother told her, her voice neutral.

            Kagome nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Hai, Mama.”

            Jii-chan stood up and brushed off his hakama. “Mama. I would speak with you,” he said quietly, walking over to her.

            “Hey old man,” Inuyasha interrupted. “Could you take the two pots of liver from Kagome’s bag and put them in the cold box?”

            “Of course,” Jii-chan replied.

            Moving without dislodging Yukio, Kagome retrieved the two clay jars full of liver and gave them to her grandfather with a word of thanks. He gave Kagome a reassuring smile and led her mother away.

 _‘Well… we weren’t alone until he left us alone, so I’m not going to worry about it,’_  she thought to herself.

            “At least the old man has brains,” Inuyasha commented.

            She gave a small grunt in acknowledgement but otherwise kept quiet. Yukio made his ‘next please’ noise and she switched him, giving his bottom a pat as she did so. He snuffled and latched on to her breast, sucking noisily.

_‘It sounds like he’d be a messy eater, but he never spills a drop.’_

            A particularly hard suck made her wince a little.  _‘Never leaves a drop either. Little pig.’_

            “He’s growing,” she said, just for something to say.

            “Yeah. Youkai and hanyou pups grow fast.”

            She nodded, remembering how much Shippou had grown over the last two years.

            “He’ll be walking by the end of the summer, I’d bet. Maybe talking too,” Inuyasha predicted.

            “That soon? He’ll only be six or seven months old by then,” she replied.

            “Yeah. I can see it already.”

            “When will he begin to teethe?”

            “I’m not sure. Soon though. Another couple of weeks maybe.”

            “Hmmm. That’s too soon to wean him. I was hoping to have him on solid food before he cut teeth, but if he is going to start growing them that soon…”

            “If he bites you, scruff him, but I think he’s learned his lesson there,” he said with a hint of amusement.

            “Yeah, he learned that quick.”

            Inuyasha chuckled. “Must take after his mother,” he teased lightly. “I’m just the stupid hanyou.”

            “Don’t say that. I know you’re one of the smart ones. You try to hide it, but I know. You’re a lot smarter than you let on,” she replied, unhappy that he’d put himself down.

            “Humans don’t expect animals to be intelligent. My human grandfather told my mother I’d never learn to read and not to bother trying to teach me, but she didn’t listen to him, and I learned pretty fast.”

            “I remember when you stole my maths study guide,” she recalled fondly. “I was so mad at you.”

            “Now  ** _that_**  I couldn’t read; all those weird signs and symbols.”

            She snickered. “That’s okay. I couldn’t read it either.”

            “You’ve often said that math is hard for you.”

            She nodded. “The higher math, yes. Algebra, geometry, calculus…”

            “Calc-u-what?”

            She gave him a fond look. “Math with weird signs and symbols.”

            He snorted. “Dunno what you need it for. If you can add and subtract, it should be enough. Seems stupid to me.”

            “Me too. I know I’ll never use it once I graduate.”

            “Then why bother with it at all? Isn’t it a waste of time then?”

            She sighed but did not get angry. Inuyasha had never really understood the importance of her school work.

            “Because in this time education is very important, and if I want to pass my tests and do well, I have to learn the things they want.”

            “Hmmph.”

            Yukio made his ‘all gone’ noise and she drew him from underneath the haori, pulling down her shirt to cover her breast again. She’d stopped wearing her bras because they’d gotten too small for her lactating breasts. New bras were on her list of necessary supplies to get while she was in the modern era. Gently, she draped him across her shoulder and burped him, giving him an extra cuddle once he’d belched.

            “You’ll teach him, right?” Inuyasha asked her suddenly, reaching over to rub the pup’s ears. “You’ll teach him all your learning from all your books?”

            She looked at him and smiled. “Of course.”  _‘He’s not even considering the possibility that we might not be together to see him grow up. I wonder what that means.’_

            He gave her a pleased smile. “Good.”

            She yawned. It was too much to think about: her mother, the doctor, Yukio growing up, her and Inuyasha’s future, her tests… oh yeah, the tests she hadn’t studied for. Her head hurt.

            “I’m tired,” she sighed.

            “Then you should sleep.”

            She shook her head. “I don’t want to be alone.”

            Inuyasha looked around, then pulled them both with him as he moved to the wall, placing his back against it and drawing her into his arms. They assumed the familiar sleeping position they adopted when resting this way and curled together. She tucked Yukio against her chest and snuggled him under the haori that was now draped over both of them like a blanket. Inuyasha nuzzled her hair then rested his chin on top of her head. She fell asleep feeling warm and safe.

            Jii-chan woke them when it was time to eat, and dinner was a quiet affair full of tension and unspoken words. Kagome refused to look at her mother, and Inuyasha made sure that he was seated in the most protective position possible, with Kagome closest to the door. She had Yukio around her chest in his sling and he was sleeping quietly after having just been fed. Poor Souta tried to start conversations to lighten the mood, but none of his cheerful anecdotes worked, and he finally gave up. After dinner he went up to his room to study.

            In keeping with the new rules, Kagome chose to study in the kitchen with the shoji open so anyone could see that she and Inuyasha were doing nothing more risqué than sitting at the table. He kept hold of Yukio, entertaining him when he wanted attention and giving him to her for feeding and changing when necessary until she closed her books and said she was headed up to bed. She changed and fed Yukio once more before talking him into her bedroom. Inuyasha gave her a sad, longing look that broke her heart, and she gave him a little nuzzle and a comforting stroke on his cheek before closing the door on him, leaving him in the hall. He sat with his back to her bedroom door, Tessaiga draped across his lap and tried to doze.

            Kagome found sleep elusive for herself as well, the lack of Inuyasha’s comforting presence making it hard for her to relax. Knowing he was right outside her door helped a little, but even Yukio was fussy without the scent of his adoptive father nearby. Still, she knew she should at least try to get some sleep. Tomorrow she was going to the doctor.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

 

            Morning came too soon and she greeted it with eyes that felt like they’d been glued shut with sandpaper. Blinking slowly, she looked down at the reason she’d awakened, and found that Yukio had tired of waiting for her to get up and had taken matters into his own mouth, worming under her pajama top and finding the nipple by himself.

            His insistent sucking was what had brought her out of her uneasy sleep, and now she looked at her clock. It was eight-thirty. She had an hour and a half before she had to leave for the doctor with her mother. Cupping Yukio under his bottom, she sat up, yawning, and ran a hand through her dirty hair. She needed a bath.

             _‘I’ll hand him to Inuyasha once he’s finished eating and go take one,_ ’ she decided.

            No sooner had the thought left her mind when she heard a tentative knock at the door.

            “Kagome?” Inuyasha’s voice called.

            “Yes?” she replied.

            Without warning, Inuyasha entered the room. She squeaked and dived under the blanket, dislodging Yukio in the process and earning an unhappy yowl from him for the sudden ‘breakfast-interruptus.’ Amazingly, though, she didn’t ‘sit’ the impatient hanyou for coming in without asking first.

            “Agh! Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t peep! I swear!” he stammered.

            She blinked out from underneath her coverlet and saw that he was flaming red with embarrassment. The look on his face told her that he fully expected to be ‘sat,’ probably multiple times.

            “It’s okay this time, Inuyasha, but next time ask me before you come in.”

            He blinked at her, shocked, but nodded. Then he took off his haori and offered it to her, laying it on the mattress and turning his back so she could put it on.  “Here.”

            “Thanks,” she said, accepting the garment and donning it, lifting the fussing Yukio back up to where he wanted to be. He grabbed on roughly as if frightened that he’d be pulled away again. She winced but didn’t scruff him. She probably should have, but it was her fault he was upset, so she forgave him.

            “You can turn around now,” she told Inuyasha.

            He did so and sat by her bed, facing her. “How are you?” he asked.

            His eyes were open and unguarded, and Kagome thought he looked a little traumatized.

_‘Hmmm, sleeping away from me was hard on him too.’_

            “I’m fine. Not looking forward to going to the doctor, but there’s no helping it.”

            He nodded, his face serious and unhappy.

            Yukio finished with the first breast and she switched him. He was gentler this time, probably figuring out that momma wasn’t going to take his teat away.

            “Once he’s finished, would you watch him while I take a bath?”

            Inuyasha crinkled his nose. “Change him first.”

            She chuckled. Diaper changing was the one thing the adult hanyou avoided at all costs.

            “What are you going to do if he soils his diaper when I’m at the doctor’s?”

            He gave her a hopeful look. “Wait until you get home?”

            “Inuyasha…” she warned.

            “The old man? He’s changed pups before, right?”

            “Inuyasha…”

            “I’ll mess it up. I won’t do it right! My claws will rip the cloth and the moss will fall out. You’ll come back to find the diaper on his head. You know it.”

            “Inuyasha…” she almost growled. He was really pushing it.

            He flattened his ears and submitted. “All right. I’ll change him if he soils.”

            She gave him a bright smile and a pat on the head. “Good boy. I’ll bring you extra ramen for being so brave.”

            “Feh,” he snorted.

            “Kagome?” her mother’s voice called, and she looked up to see her standing in the open doorway. Inuyasha had never closed it from his earlier entrance.

            “Yes, Mama?” she replied.

            “You need to get ready to go.”

            “I will as soon as Yukio’s finished, Mama. I’ll change him then go take a bath.”

            “I’ll have breakfast ready by the time you come down,” the older woman said.

            “Okay. Thank you, Mama.”

            Her mother nodded and walked away, leaving the door open.

            Yukio finished eating a few minutes later. She burped and changed him, then gave him to Inuyasha to watch while she gathered clothes and went to bathe. When she came out of the bathroom, she was surprised to see that Inuyasha had not gone down to breakfast. Instead she found him lying on his back in her bed with Yukio draped on his chest and one hand resting lightly on the baby’s back. The baby had his fists curled into the cream fabric of his adopted father’s kimono and was sleeping peacefully. Inuyasha had his eyes closed as well, and the scene was so endearing that she wished she had a camera to capture it forever.

            “Inuyasha,” she called and his eyes cracked open immediately. She offered him his haori in exchange for the baby. “Here.”

            He accepted the trade and she wrapped Yukio in his blanket before heading downstairs.

            Breakfast was about as fun as dinner had been, and no one spoke. Souta had already left for school so it was just her, Inuyasha, Jii-chan and Mama.

            “How long will you be gone?” Inuyasha asked as she prepared to leave with her mother.

            He was holding Yukio and looking very domestic.

            “A couple of hours, I think. What will you do?”

            He shrugged. “Try to get some sleep and hope the pup doesn’t soil his diaper until you get back,” he replied with a small smile.

            She gave him a light slap on the shoulder, then a soft stroke on his cheek. “I promise we’ll come straight home from the appointment.”

            He nodded gratefully and touched his forehead to hers for a brief moment. “Okay.”

            “I’ll see you when I get back.”

            “Be safe, Kagome.”

            She gave him a reassuring smile. “I will. I promise.”

            “Let’s go, Kagome,” her mother said.

            Kagome gave him a little sigh and a shrug, then followed her mother out. 

            They took the train and neither spoke as they traveled. Kagome fiddled with the hem of the skirt she had put on. It was longer than the skirts she usually wore, but she was feeling exposed and the extra cloth gave her some semblance of protection. When they arrived at the OB/GYN office, Kagome gave the nurse her name, and was told to wait in the full waiting room. Apparently one of the partners had been called to the hospital for a birth so there was a backlog as the remaining doctors tried to make up for the loss of a staff member. As a result, Kagome would not be seeing her mother’s gynecologist, but another doctor instead.

            After two hours of waiting, she and her mother were finally led back to an examination room. There Kagome was instructed to remove all of her clothing and don the flimsy examination gown. She sat on the examination table, shivering in the cold room, with her mother studiously not looking at her and making her feel dirtier than she already did, for another hour. When the doctor finally came in, she was practically to the point of tears from all the nervous waiting and cold treatment.

            Kagome had never been through a pelvic exam before. Her only consolation was that the doctor was female, thus sparing her the trauma of having to submit to being touched  ** _there_**  by a strange man, but it was a small comfort. The exam was uncomfortable, and the speculum the woman used was cold and hurt her when it was opened. And while not overly rough, the doctor wasn’t gentle either and had a disapproving look on her face for most of the exam, making Kagome feel like she had committed some form of terrible sin. Her disapproving look deepened when she examined Kagome’s breasts, and she wanted to just crawl into a hole and hide forever.

            When the doctor finished, she pulled off her latex gloves as Kagome slowly sat up and faced her mother, keeping her back to Kagome.

            “Well, Mrs. Higurashi, I am happy to tell you that your daughter remains pure,” the doctor said matter-of-factly.

            Both Kagome and her mother flinched, and Kagome felt even worse.

            “Excuse me?” her mother replied.

            The doctor seemed slightly put out. “I assumed since you were so insistent on having your daughter seen today, that you had reason to believe that she was no longer pure. I am telling you that her hymen remains intact and there is no evidence of any vaginal penetration.”

            Kagome felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she gripped the edge of the table, her stomach flip-flopping in her gut.

            “That’s not…” her mother began to say, but was cut off by the doctor turning around to face her patient.

            “However, it is obvious that she has been engaging in some rather aberrant behavior,” she said angrily, glaring at Kagome.

            “Aberrant behavior?” Mrs. Higurashi repeated.

            “Yes. Since there is no possible way she could have given birth, yet it is clear that she is lactating, I can only assume that she is breastfeeding a child that is not hers. Just  ** _whose_**  baby are you nursing, girl, and what the hell do you think you are doing?”

            Kagome stared at the doctor in shock. “I…” she stammered.

            There was no way she could tell the truth, and the doctor wouldn’t believe her if she tried.

            “So it is possible for a woman to breastfeed without having become pregnant,” Kagome’s mother said.

            “Of course. The hormones that govern lactation are pituitary, not ovarian. Even a woman who has undergone a hysterectomy would be able to lactate if stimulated. A number of adoptive mothers undergo hormone therapy in order to induce lactation to breastfeed their adoptive infants, but milk production can be induced by nipple stimulation alone,” the doctor informed them tersely. “Since I am assuming no doctor in their right mind would provide this girl with hormone therapy, I can only conclude that she is allowing a baby to nurse from her and has been for quite some time. Which brings me back to my original question. Whose baby is it?”

            Kagome shrank back from the hard gaze, clutching the front of the flimsy examination gown closed over her breasts. She was close to tears and a hair away from exploding; not something she did often, but she was feeling extremely trapped and threatened. Her mother must have seen the look on her face, and her protective maternal instincts finally kicked in because she stood up and positioned herself by her daughter’s side.  
            “My niece recently had a baby,” her mother lied smoothly. “Kagome’s been baby-sitting for them a lot.”

            “Tell them they need to find a new baby-sitter. What your daughter is doing cannot be considered child abuse, but it can be classified as molestation.”

            “Molestation?!” Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed.

            Kagome thought she was going to faint.

            “Of course. She is putting a strange baby to breast, and she has done it often enough to not only induce lactation, but she is producing  ** _significant_**  amounts of milk. The amount of nursing required in order to warrant that much milk,  ** _especially_**  because she  ** _is_**  still a virgin and has never been pregnant, means she is doing it repeatedly on at least a daily basis. This is a severe interference with the parental-infant bond, and I have no doubt that the parents will be horrified to find out what their baby-sitter has been doing to their infant.”

            The doctor turned her hard gaze to her again. “Now, girl, you are going to stop nursing this baby. Do you hear me? Because it is a family affair and you are a minor, I will leave it to your mother to deal with you. You are just going to have to wait until you have your own baby to nurse, but I strongly suggest you wait until you are least nineteen and that you get some psychological help in the meantime. What you are doing is not normal and is considered deviant behavior. Now go get dressed. I want to speak to your mother alone.”

            Humiliated, hurting and numb, Kagome slid off the examination table, gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom. She felt filthy, her skin crawling where the doctor had touched her, and cold from the lubricant gel that was still on her body. She sat on the toilet and wiped herself clean repeatedly, using paper towels moistened with warm water from the sink, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get rid of the feeling of slime on her flesh. She was shaking so badly, she could barely balance on one foot to slip on her clothes, and she had to fumble with the zipper of her skirt five times before she finally got it. When she finally finished dressing and made her way slowly to the waiting room, her mother had already completed the check-out paperwork and was ready to leave.

            She shook all the way home, her arms crossed over her chest and her head bowed. People stared at her on the train and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood just to keep from screaming. Her mother watched her with concerned eyes and stayed close by, her attitude completely different from that of the morning. If it hadn’t been so sick, Kagome might have started laughing.

            She practically threw herself out of the train when they reached their stop and hurried up the stairs and down the street, making her mother walk double-time just to keep up. When she saw the welcome sight of the shrine stairs, she broke into a run, ignoring her mother’s worried call. She had only one thought: get to Inuyasha. Inuyasha would keep her safe. Inuyasha would make it all better. Inuyasha wouldn’t look at her as if she were some deviant, baby-molesting filth to be locked away.

            She hit the stairs running and took them two at time, her arms crossed tightly over her breasts to support them because all-in-all she’d been gone more than five hours including travel time, and it was well past time when she needed to nurse the baby. She cleared the top of the stairs, passing under the shrine archway, and raced across the paving stones. A flash of red and silver appeared in her view and she saw him: her salvation, her sanity, standing at the other end of the shrine grounds. He was holding their baby, his face pale and worried as he watched her coming towards him. Her tears had already started to fall, and the sobs were building in her throat as his stunned figure grew closer and closer. He must have realized that she had no intention of stopping until she had literally run into him, because she saw him lift one arm to hold the baby out of the way while the other opened out to her.

            She hit him full force, thanking God he was so strong because he didn’t even flinch, and his open arm came around her, cocooning her in the red folds of his haori as the floodgates opened and she sobbed great wracking sobs into his shoulder. Yukio answered her sobs with howls of his own and it was impossible to tell who was louder.

            “Kagome,” Inuyasha breathed, his voice full of worry, heartbreak and fear.

            She couldn’t bring herself to stop sobbing long enough to answer him. Instead she gripped the front of his haori so tightly her knuckles turned white, and clung to him as if he were the only thing on earth keeping her alive. He was certainly the only thing keeping her standing, and he supported her easily, nuzzling into her hair in a useless attempt to comfort her.

            Yukio’s cries finally reached her and she pulled back long enough to take him into her arms and hold him close.

            “Shhh. Shhhhhhh, my baby. Kaa-san is here, and Otou,” she choked through her tears, kissing his red face and little puppy ears as she wept. “We’re here and we love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.”

            Free from holding the baby, Inuyasha now wrapped both arms around her and Yukio, pulling them into a tight embrace, holding them as if the force of his will alone could make everything all better. Little did he know that, at least for her, he was absolutely right. Inyuasha’s arms were safe. Inuyasha’s arms were where she belonged and no one would ever take her from them.

            She knew immediately when her mother entered the shrine grounds because Inuyasha began to growl menacingly and pull her closer. Then he was moving them, dragging her along with him as he snarled his warnings, and she realized that he was headed for the well-house.

            “No,” she managed to tell him. “My room. Take me to my room.”

            He gave an unhappy grunt and growl, but obeyed. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her bridal-style into the house and up to her room, slamming the door shut with a kick of his foot. He deposited her and the baby onto the bed, but still did not let go of them. Instead, he got on the bed with them, pulled them with him as he braced his back against the wall, and wrapped himself around them as much as it was physically possible for him to do.

            Yukio was still whimpering little cries of worry, upset and hunger, and she quieted him by giving him her breast, not caring if Inuyasha might be able to peep and see her. He nursed desperately, his little fists balled against her, finding both comfort and nourishment in the action. Inuyasha peeled her from him long enough to cover her with his haori the way he always did, then pulled her back into his arms. She continued to cling to him and cry heartbroken sobs until she finally stopped because she was too exhausted to cry anymore. Drained, heart-sore and still very much in shock, she just lay in his embrace, breathing softly with the occasion sniffle and hitched gasp.

            “Kagome. Kagome, tell me what happened. You were gone such a long time. We were worried,” he begged softly.

            Shuddering at the memory, and feeling the emotion welling up over her again, she drew a shaky, halting breath and answered him. She spoke in broken sobs and stuttered whispers, but she told him everything that happened- from the moment she arrived at the doctor, all the way up to the estrogen therapy the doctor wanted her to take that she had no intention of taking to suppress her milk and dry her up. She could feel his anger growing and knew he was practically vibrating with rage by the time she had finished her tale, but he wouldn’t let her go.

            Yukio had finished eating and was already sleeping in the cocoon of their embrace when the stress and strain of her horrible day, plus that fact that she hadn’t slept well the previous night, caught up with her and she felt herself losing consciousness. Inuyasha noticed it too and rocked her a little, lulling her to rest. She fell asleep to the sound of his soft breathing and his heartbeat in her ears.

 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

 

            There are moments in a woman’s life; defining moments where everything changes in a heartbeat and nothing is ever the same again. Your first crush. The day you start menstruating. Your first boyfriend. Your first experience with sex. The day you accept your first marriage proposal. Your wedding day. The birth of your first child (“Congratulations, Mrs. Higurashi. It’s a girl.”). The unexpected loss of a husband and having to raise two children alone. The day your daughter starts her first day of school. The day she tells you the ancient well in the shrine leads to a place 500 years in the past. The day a half-demon comes to drag her back there. The day she returns with her first battle scars, and you realize she is putting herself in mortal danger and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. The day she gets her heart broken and cries all night in her room. The day you know she is falling in love. The day she starts high school. The day you realize the little girl you raised is someone you don’t know anymore. The day she appears, half-demon in tow, carrying a strange infant, and all your hopes and dreams for her to have a normal life go completely up in smoke.

            Defining moments. Defining decisions. Choices you make in the blink of an eye and you can’t take them back. Things you thought were the right things to do only to find everything going all wrong and spiraling out of control.

            The day you make the worst decision of your life and damage something precious, perhaps beyond repair.

            Mama Higurashi sat at the kitchen table and poured herself another cup of sake in the dark, the only light in the room coming from the displays on the microwave and kitchen clock. It had been over a decade since she’d been this drunk, but tonight she needed it to numb the pain. The pain of her beloved daughter’s humiliated, horrified face, the accusing eyes, and the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach to know she had been the cause of it.

            She’d been so frightened. Her daughter, her precious Kagome, barely seventeen and coming home with a babe-in-arms, a nursing one at that! Something had to be done! She made the choice, laid down the law, and crushed her child with it. Oh what she wouldn’t do for a chance to take it all back and do it differently.

            She should have listened to Jii-chan instead of being blinded by her own irrational panic. Now she wasn’t sure if what was broken could ever be fixed. Could the half-demon with the dog ears heal her daughter’s wounds? The ones her own mother had put there? Could he soothe the ache and make that horrible, broken look go away from her child’s eyes?

            They were upstairs now- in blatant disobedience of the new rules, but at least she no longer heard her daughter’s heartbroken sobs. It had been quiet up there for hours and neither of them had answered the call to dinner so perhaps Kagome had finally fallen into painless sleep. She didn’t know when she herself would ever get to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she kept seeing that terrible, heart wrenching face, and she’d start to cry all over again. Jii-chan tried to comfort her, tried to absolve her of the guilt for the colossal error in judgment she’d made, but she’d be punishing herself for years. Would Kagome ever forgive her?

            There was movement by the doors and there he stood, white hair a stark contrast to the darkness of the hallway behind him. She known he would come down eventually, and she had been expecting him. He was viciously protective of her daughter, and there was no way he would have let the events of the day go unchallenged. And really, she would think less of him if he did. What man who truly loved her daughter would allow her pain to go unpunished? The very fact that he stood there, ready to face down his love’s own mother, was proof of his devotion, and she had to respect him for it even if part of her was deathly afraid.

            He could kill her in a heartbeat and she knew it. She’d seen what those claws could do, but his body did not scream violence and revenge. His dog ears were drooped, his eyes down, and his hands were clenched into hard fists at his sides. She didn’t know if he was raging or weeping, then thought he was probably doing both.

            “You should be proud of her,” he said suddenly in the heavy silence, his voice rough with emotion. “You should be proud of her, woman, not ashamed. What she did… She took an orphaned hanyou pup and loved him. Loved him enough to feed him from her own body even though he was not hers. She took in a pup most others would have killed outright or left to starve. That’s not something she should be punished for.”

            He paused, but she could tell that he wasn’t finished speaking, so she stayed quiet, waiting.

            “Your daughter has the purest heart I’ve ever known. I have seen her sacrifice more and give more of herself in a single day than most of us useless bastards do in our entire lifetimes. Through her I have seen the world in all of its possibilities instead of all of its disappointments. Every day I am awed and humbled by her power to love and forgive. I know I am a worthless hanyou who is not worthy of her, but yet she stays with me, and treats me with love and kindness- more love and kindness than I have ever known, and I am thankful for every day that she is in my life.”

            He looked up at her, his eyes blazing with fury. “I owe her more than my heart and mind. I owe her my soul because she gave it back to me when I thought I’d lost it forever. And if you ever hurt her like this again, I  ** _will_**  take her away. I’ll take her through that blasted well and destroy it on the other side. I won’t care if she hates me or ‘sits’ me a thousand times. I  ** _will_**  protect Kagome and I  ** _will_**  protect my pup. Even from you.”

            She swallowed hard, knowing if anyone would make good on his threats, it would be this boy.

            “I know,” she replied calmly. “And if I ever hurt one of my children like this again, I’ll help you.”

            He seemed surprised by her words, then nodded grimly, “We understand each other then.”

            She nodded. “As much as can be understood. Believe me, no one knows more than I how horribly I behaved and how wrong I was. I don’t know why I did what I did. I can only say that I feared for my daughter’s health. However, as soon as we were told that what was happening was normal, I should have taken Kagome out of there. I should not have subjected her to… that.”

            “You should have trusted her. Kagome would not have lied to you.”

            “I know, but sometimes parents find themselves making the wrong choices for the right reasons, and they end up doing more harm than good by mistake. I pray you will never find yourself in that position,” she told him.

            He nodded, his mouth tightened into a thin line.

            “I knew I had made a mistake the moment we got to the doctor’s office and I saw how upset and nervous she was, but I didn’t listen to what my heart was telling me. I didn’t know how much worse it was going to get until it was too late, and by then the damage was already done.

            “But as I listened to that hateful woman insult and debase my daughter, then insult me and call my parenting skills into question, I realized that I had raised a child almost no one would understand. My daughter’s heart and soul were so big and so pure, the average person could not even begin to comprehend it. But I’d known that. I’d always known that. It had just never been so clear to me than in that moment.”

            The boy looked at her with pleading eyes. “If you knew, then why did you do it? She didn’t deserve to suffer through that.”

            “Because pretty soon you’ll understand what a parent will do to protect her child, the lengths she will go to in order to keep her child safe,” she tried to explain. “I was afraid for my daughter; I am still afraid for her. Every time she goes with you through the well, I know there’s a chance she might not come back. I have seen the scars she bears and the shadows behind her eyes. I have watched my carefree little girl worry about bandages and emergency wound care when all she should be crying about is hair and boys. When she came through with a baby and claimed it as her own… all I wanted to do was save her.”

            “From me,” he said with a dejected sigh.

            She shook her head. “From that  ** _life_**. In your time, girls Kagome’s age may be married and already have two children, but in this time she is still just a  ** _child_**. She has her whole life ahead of her, full of dreams and opportunities that having a baby at seventeen takes away from her. I wanted to spare her the hardships of the path she has chosen.”

            “So if I love her, I should leave? Take the pup and go?” he asked suddenly.

            She paused. Was that what she wanted? For her daughter to go back to being a normal child? No more trips through the well, no more battles, no more half-demon eating ramen in her kitchen? If she could make that choice for Kagome she would, but she couldn’t and Kagome could never go back to being a normal girl. She had seen and done too much.

            And above all Mama knew Kagome loved this half-demon with all her heart, and would be destroyed if she lost either him or the baby they were planning to raise together. After all the damage she had done today, she was in no mood to cause her daughter any more heartache and pain.

            “No. If you love her, you will stay and see it through. If you love her enough to be willing to die for her, be willing to live for her. Dying is easy, Inuyasha. It’s living that’s the hard part,” she replied honestly.

            The half-demon in her kitchen snorted. “Keh, you don’t need to tell me that, woman. I’ve known it all my life. Humans and youkai have been trying to get rid of me since the day I was born.”

            “Like that helpless baby who lost both his parents.”

            He nodded gravely.

            She sighed and took another drink from her cup. She heard him sniff and grunt.

            “Sake, eh?” he commented wryly.

            She nodded, refilling the cup. “The drink of the repentant.”

            He coughed lightly. “And the foolish.”

            She shrugged. “Tonight, I am both.”

            He looked away, his eyes thoughtful. “How well I know that feeling.”

            They were quiet for several moments, then she gathered up her courage and asked.

            “How is Kagome?”

            “Sleeping. The pup too,” he answered simply.

            “She didn’t eat any dinner. Neither did you.”

            “We weren’t hungry.”

            “Are you hungry now?”

            “Not really. Maybe later.”

            “It’s already past nine,” she pointed out.

            He shrugged.

            She turned back to her drink. “I’ll be up a while longer. If she wakes, tell her I want to speak with her. I’d like to apologize to her personally. I don’t know if it will do any good, but I have to try.”

            “I’ll tell her, but I don’t know if she will come down tonight,” he promised.

            “I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t.”

            “But as you said, her heart is pure and big. I am sure she will forgive you. She’s forgiven me worse,” he admitted.

            “She loves you very much. Love makes it easy to forgive.”

            “If only that forgiveness could make you forget the mistakes you made,” he commented regretfully.

            She nodded in perfect understanding and took another sip from her drink. “Thank you for taking care of her,” she said after a moment, genuinely grateful.

            “I will be staying in her room tonight,” he told her, his voice holding a hint of challenge.

            She nodded and gave in. It was wrong of her to separate them anyway.

            “I know you would never do anything to dishonor my daughter,” she answered.

            “There are some who say she dishonors herself just by being with me,” he said sadly.

            “Those who say that are simply ignorant and hateful. Don’t listen to them. Kagome knows her own heart and she’s the one that matters.”

            “Yes,” he agreed. “I’m going back up now.”

            “Good night, Inuyasha.”

            “Good night.”

            The half-demon moved to leave her alone in the dark with her sake and her regrets, but then she had a flash of inspiration.

_‘Maybe I can make things a little better for Kagome tonight after all.’_

            “Inuyasha…” she called, and waited for him to look at her.

            He paused in the doorway and blinked confusedly. “Yeah?”

            “Kagome knows you love her, but… but sometimes it’s nice to hear the words.”

            She saw his eyes open wide for a moment, then his face grew quiet and pensive. He gave her a quiet nod of thanks and acknowledgment, and walked out of the room. She watched him leave, before returning to her sake and her own dark thoughts.

           

*********

 

            Inuyasha walked slowly up the stairs, his mind and heart heavy with the events of the day. As he climbed the stairs, he let his fists relax and raised his hands to lick the blood off his palms where his claws had dug into his skin. Some of the wounds were so deep that blood had pooled out of them and dripped on the floor. He licked his hands thoroughly, knowing that the pup would smell blood immediately and get upset. The action gave him time to think about Kagome’s mother’s words.

_‘Kagome knows you love her, but… but sometimes it’s nice to hear the words.’_

            He knew he’d never said it. But then again, she’d never said it either. It was this unspoken agreement between them not to tell each other how they really felt. At least, not with words anyway. They had been telegraphing ‘I love yous’ with touch and actions for the better part of their relationship, but the words… the words had never left their lips.

            He’d heard her say them- to others. Usually when she thought he couldn’t hear. He’d heard her scream ‘I love Inuyasha!’ right before he ripped down the shoji of the temple Kagura had taken Kagome to when Naraku had tried to steal Kagome’s eyes. He’d heard her cry it as she thrust off the last of that damn baby’s control over her soul, just moments before he’d clawed his way to her side.

            How she’d looked at him then as she fell backwards and he caught her before she hit the floor. Her eyes… her eyes had said it all, and again, later, when she opened them and saw him kneeling next to her. ‘You came,’ her mouth had said, but her eyes had whispered, ‘I love you. I adore you. You are my only one.’ And he’d felt shame and guilt and self-hatred for being such a terrible fool, and vowed to never ever, ever let Kagome suffer like that again.

            He knew she’d told Sango of her love for him, and, obviously, her mother. The fact that he had never said the words was apparently not lost on her and she’d said something to them about it. Was she waiting for him to say them first? Had her declaration of love not come because she wanted him to make the first move? Souta had been so insistent that he tell that little girl he liked her, as if in this time the responsibility for admitting feelings rested on the male. In his time, feelings were assumed and never discussed, at least not by him, but now he wondered what would happen if he did finally admit them and tell her. Would it change anything between them? Any more than the pup had already changed things?

            The pup. His son. His makeshift family. The life that bound him and Kagome together. Finally, he had something to hold her with that was more permanent than a Quest or a Duty. If they had a pup to raise, would she stay with him now? She’d all but said she would. She’d threatened to leave with him and never return to this place he’d come to resent because it took her from him, and stank and hurt his ears and made him feel caged. She’d said she’d do it and he knew she’d been serious. What would she have thought if she’d known how his heart had leapt for joy and danced a happy, elated dance around his soul at the sound of those words?

            But her mother wanted a different life for her daughter. One that didn’t include violent hanyous and pups and time-traveling danger. If he loved her, he would take the pup and leave, leave her to her world of school and tests and ‘machines.’ She wouldn’t have him but she’d be alive and safe...

             _‘And devastated,’_  he sighed.  _‘And so would you, **and**  you’d have a pup to raise who had lost  **two**  mothers before he’d even learned to walk. And be honest, you’re too damn selfish to give her up anyway. She’s yours, damnit and no one, no one is taking her away from you. The rest of the world can fuck off._’ He chuckled. At least he was still allowed to curse in his head.

            The blood was gone and he put one hand palm down on the closed door, stretching out his hearing to listen to the occupants of the room. Both Kagome and Yukio were sleeping, their breath soft and even. Quietly he opened the door and took in the sight of Kagome curled, still clothed, on the bed with Yukio tucked against her. She was still wrapped in his haori, and all he could see of the pup was a tuft of silver hair sticking out from underneath the fire rat cloth. He smiled at the sight, his human heart softening with love and tenderness while his demon snarled protectively.

_‘Mine. Mine mine mine mine mine! MINE!’_

            For once his two halves were in complete agreement.

            He needed to hold her, to know she was safe, and feel her warmth against him so he could sleep. Slowly, he approached the bed and rubbed her calf lightly with the back of his hand. She roused a moment later and blinked at him with sleepy eyes.

            “Inu… yasha?” she murmured.

            “May I sleep with you in your bed tonight?” he asked, shocked at his own boldness but it was too late now.

            She stared at him and he blushed, suddenly realizing how his question might have sounded. Did she think he was asking for  ** _that_**?

            “Just to sleep!” he stammered, holding up his hands.

            She gave him a tired smile and nodded. He let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding and climbed in next to her, putting himself between her body and the wall. Her bed was soft and smelled of her and he’d often slept in it, just never with her in it at the same time. He settled down on his side as she rolled to her back, placing Yukio on her chest. The fire rat haori fell open and he could see that the pup was sound asleep, dressed only in his diaper. He reached out one hand to stroke the pup’s hair and back.

            Kagome turned her head so that it touched his shoulder and he moved close. It was odd to lie with her like this. They’d often slept curled together sitting up, but never reclined side-by-side. He liked it. Her warmth ran the entire length of his body, and of course, her scent was everywhere, wrapping around him like a sweet blanket. Somehow his hand found hers and their fingers laced together across her stomach.

            “I spoke to your mother,” he whispered.

            He felt her tense beside him and he nuzzled her hair comfortingly.

            “She wants to talk to you.”

            “Not tonight,” came her soft reply.

            “I told her that you probably wouldn’t come down. She’s drinking sake in the dark down in the kitchen.”

            “She is?”

            He nodded, knowing she couldn’t see it, but would feel the movement against her head.

            “She… she feels badly about today. She’s very sorry. She said she wanted to apologize to you personally,” he told her.

            “She did?”

            “She knows she made a big mistake. She wants to make up.”   

            She made a choked sound. “How can I ever forgive her for putting me through that? You didn’t see how that doctor looked at me…”

            “Is it any worse than some of the things I have done? You’ve forgiven me, haven’t you?” he asked.

            “Yes,” she replied without hesitation, and he felt immense relief at the words. “But this is different. This is my mother, and I’ve never given her any reason to doubt me.”

            “I know, and I don’t excuse what she did, but… but sometimes parents make the wrong choice for the right reason and end up making a big mistake,” he paraphrased to her. “Maybe someday you’ll find yourself doing the same thing with Yukio and feeling badly about it. And I’ll find you drinking sake in the dark.”

            She laughed at that, softly. “Maybe.”

            He nuzzled her again. “Kagome…”  _‘I love you.’_  “You’re safe now, and so is the pup, and I don’t think it will happen again.”

            “I think you’re right.”

            “So maybe, it’s okay to forgive her and give her another chance. Doesn’t your mother deserve the same forgiveness you give a worthless hanyou like me?”

            Her hand on his tensed and clutched his fingers close. “You’re not a worthless hanyou. Don’t ever say that. To me, you’re… you’re strong and good and perfect just the way you are.”

            He had to squeeze his eyes shut to halt the tears that threatened. “Kagome…”  _‘I love you.’_

            “But you’re right. She does deserve my forgiveness if she promises never to do it again.”

            “She won’t. I’m sure of it.”

            She snuggled closer, shifting so that her body was pressed against his. “All right then. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Right now… right now I just want to lie here with you. Is that okay?”

             _‘You have to ask?’_  “Yeah. I told your mother I’d be staying in here with you tonight. She didn’t tell me I couldn’t.”

            She sighed, and on her chest, the pup snuffled in his sleep. She used her free hand to pull the haori back over him to keep him warm.

            “Good. I’m tired.”

            “Then go back to sleep.”

            “Mmm-hmmm,” she murmured and he could feel her slipping down into unconsciousness.

            “Sleep, Kagome.”  _‘I love you.’_

            “Night… nu…yash…a.”

            “Good night,” he answered but she was already asleep.

            He smiled and buried his nose in her fragrant hair.

             _‘Kagome. I know I am not worthy of you, but I love you and I am never letting you go. And someday… someday I’ll be brave enough to tell you.’_

            He closed his eyes, relaxing as the sound of her breathing and heartbeat, and her scent, soothed him like a balm on his soul. Soon he joined her in peaceful, dreamless sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

 

            Kagome awakened to find that she had rolled during the night and was now facing Inuyasha. Yukio had slipped down between them, and was now sequestered in the space between their chests. He didn’t seem to mind, however, because he was sleeping soundly and looked perfectly content. She took the opportunity to study his little face while she could because she knew he would be waking up soon. His expression mirrored Inuyasha’s: relaxed and happy in peaceful sleep.

             _‘Inuyasha’s told me before that he likes sleeping in here because it smells so much like me. I guess Yukio is the same way,’_  she thought.

            As if on cue, the object of her scrutiny yawned a huge toothless yawn and opened sleepy eyes. They focused on her as he raised his fist to his mouth and made his ‘I’m hungry’ sound. Smiling at him and patting his bottom, she rolled away from Inuyasha and sat up, pulling the haori down over her as she unbuttoned her shirt and gave him what he wanted. Behind her, she heard Inuyasha move and when she looked, she saw he that he was now on his back.

            “Morning,” she whispered.

            Golden eyes cracked open and he smiled softly at her as he scratched his chest and stretched.

            “Morning,” he answered, his voice still thick with sleep.

            “Did you get enough sleep?”

            He nodded. “You?”

            “I think so. I’ll feel a lot better after a bath. I still feel... dirty,” she admitted with a frown.

            “Don’t. That doctor was a stupid bitch...” He paused to see if she would punish him for cursing in front of the baby. She gave him a dark look, but no ‘sit’ left her lips. “She was wrong and she didn’t know what you had done. Don’t listen to her.”

            “I know. But I still feel... violated. She touched me... there and it hurt.”

            “She hurt you?” he asked, his voice almost a growl.

            “Not badly, but no one’s ever... Y’know? It wasn’t very pleasant.”

            His eyes darkened and he nodded. “What will you do today?”

            “I have to study. My first test is tomorrow, but I wanted to go shopping too. There are some things I need that really can’t wait until after my tests are over. I thought I’d go out this morning and be back by lunchtime. Can you watch Yukio?”

            He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll watch him.”

            “I never asked... was he alright yesterday?  
            “Yeah, he was fine. We stayed in here and he slept most of the time, until he needed changing.”

            She gave him a knowing smile. “And did you do your duty and take care of it, or did you go running to Jii-chan?”

            He scowled. “The old man wasn’t here.”

            She laughed at the look on his face. “So you had to do it.”

            “It wasn’t too bad. He only wet so it didn’t stink as badly as it could have. I think I got it right.”

            She thought back to the tear-filled, sobbing haze that was the previous night. She remembered having to change Yukio at least twice and hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

            “You did fine. I didn’t notice anything wrong with how you changed him. One of the things I’ll be getting today is new diapers that will be easier to use.”

            “That would be good.”

            Yukio wanted to be switched so she moved him over. The act of nursing him was becoming so second nature that he barely had to make a noise before she was responding.

            “Then this afternoon I’ll start studying.”

            “Your test is tomorrow?”

            She nodded. “The first one. I have three. The next two are on Friday.”

            “Both on the same day?”

            “Yes, history and maths.”

            He frowned at the word ‘maths.’ “You always worry about that math.”

            “It’s my hardest subject.”

            “So I guess you will need to study hard.”

            She nodded sadly. “I’m afraid so. If I want to pass the tests and do well, and have a future, I will need to study a lot.”

            He sighed, clearly unhappy, but knowing there was nothing to be done for it.

            “But it’s easier now, right, now that you are in high scchhhkool? You don’t have to pass that… what was it?”

            “Entrance exam,” she offered.

            “Yeah, that. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

            “No, but I’m thinking about college.”

            “Collllaaagggee? What’s that?”

            “More school after high school, but more specialized. I decide what I want to study. But…” She looked at Yukio. “But now I’m not so sure I want to go. I know my mom wants me to get a degree, but with Yukio and hunting for the shards, I don’t know if I can do both. It’s hard enough for me as it is, and I’m only in high school. College is much harder. And the entrance exams are much worse than the ones for high school as well.”

            His eyes grew sad and he looked away, apparently thinking about something serious. She knew the look and also knew he wouldn’t talk about it until he was good and ready, so she stayed quiet and focused on Yukio, stroking his back and hair as he nursed.

            “Kagome… do you… do you want to stay here?” Inuyasha finally asked softly after a long silence.

            “For another few days? That would be nice. It would give me time to really catch up on my studies and maybe even get a little bit ahead. And I want to come back for my seventeenth birthday. I want to spend a whole week here if you’ll let me,” she replied.

            He laughed a mirthless laugh. “If I let you.”

            She gave him an indignant look. “Well, it’s true. I have to fight you almost every time to come back. I know you hate it when I have to leave you, but you make things so much worse than they need to be. You know I always come back when I’m supposed to, even if I’m a little late sometimes. I don’t know why you still don’t trust me after all this time.”

            “I do trust you. It’s just…” He stopped, his face pensive and far-away.

            “Just what?” she asked, sensing that something much bigger was going on, and it was something she wouldn’t like.

            He shook his head. “Nothing. It wasn’t important. But that wasn’t what I was asking you. I was asking if you wanted to stay here for good.”

            She blinked, a shiver of ice running down her spine. “As in, not go back to the Feudal Era with you?”

            “Yes.”

            A horrible feeling of panic seized her heart and she felt a lurch in her gut. Where was this coming from? Did he not want her with him anymore? What was going on?  “But… but what about Yukio?”

            “I’d take him with me. Kaede would help me raise him, and Sango. She and the monk will have their own whelp soon enough,” he answered slowly, calmly- too calmly.

            She swallowed hard, her heart pounding. Yukio had stopped eating and was lying still in her arms. He hadn’t made a sound, and she knew he could sense her upset. She tried to comfort him, but she was fast approaching full melt-down. After everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, she just couldn’t take this right now. Desperately, she grabbed onto her old reliable.

            “What… what about the shards? You need me to find them.”

            “We would manage. Kikyou can see them if it comes to it…”

            “Kikyou?! KIKYOU?!” she exploded, snapping. “Is that what this is all about? You’ll take my baby and give him to Kaede and replace me with Kikyou?!”

            He sat up, hands open and eyes wide. “Kagome…” he tried but she was in no mood to listen.

            “How dare you? How dare you after all I’ve been through and suffered! How could you just throw me aside like some useless piece of trash?!”

            “That’s not what I meant!” Inuyasha argued, his face horrified.

            “I can’t believe you still see me as a weak human who is nothing more than your shard detector! After everything I’ve done for you and all the times I’ve saved you and proved my worth over and over. Now you want to take my baby away from me and replace me with an undead walking clay pot!!” she cried, weeping.

            “NO! Kagome, listen to me!” he entreated.

            “I swear if it wouldn’t break my bed, I’d ‘s’ you right into the floor right now, you ungrateful, stupid idiot! Baka! Baka baka baka baka baka baka! BAKA!!!!!!”

            Yukio screamed. He screamed like he did the night his mother died, a deafening cry that found their spines and raked down them. Kagome clutched him to her chest and rocked him, trying to calm him as she wept, her face buried in his soft silver hair. He fussed against her, whimpering and whining.

            “Shhhh, shhhhh, my baby. It’s all right. Kaa-san is here. No one is taking you away. I promise. I promise. Don’t cry anymore. Don’t cry, Yukio.”

            “Kagome,” Inuyasha begged, his voice pleading. “Kagome, please listen.”

            “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say, baka!” she snarled back, making him cringe.

            “But you’ve got it all wrong!” he argued. “I’m trying to save you!”

            “Save me? How are you trying to save me?” she snapped, still rocking the baby.

            “Your mother… last night, she said having a pup would take away your chances, and hurt your dreams, and you just said you might not be able to live both lives anymore...” he explained desperately.

            “My dreams? What do you know about my dreams? You’ve never asked me about my dreams! And you leave what my mother says out of this! She has no idea what I want!”

            “I want you to be happy. I want you to have a good life…”

            “So you’ll make me happy by taking away something precious to me?”

            “No!”

            “Then I don’t understand. You’re not making any sense.”

            “I’m not… I don’t… I don’t want you to give up your chances for a good life. I don’t want you to regret… regret being with me,” he finished softly.

            “And don’t I get a choice in all of this?” she asked coldly, but her anger was fading.

            He looked at her with stricken eyes. “Of course.”

            “Then stop trying to make my decisions for me. You’ve done this before and it really pissed me off. It’s  ** _my_**  life, these are  ** _my_**  choices and  ** _I_**  will make them. No one else. Do you understand?”

            “Kagome…” he breathed, his voice broken. “Yes, I understand.”

            “Good. Then I choose you and Yukio. End of discussion.”

            He stared at her in disbelief. “Just… just like that?”

            “Yes,” she snipped back huffily, more peeved than anything else.

            “Kagome…”

            She turned away from him, comforting Yukio who was still whimpering. She patted him and cooed, soothing him and telling him it was all okay. He snuffled and pulled at her hair, his face worrying against her neck. She was so busy with the baby that she almost didn’t hear Inuyasha’s faint voice.

            “Thank you.”

            She turned her head, surprised, and saw him kneeling on the mattress, his head down, ears drooped and his hands limp on the bed in front of him.

            “Inuyasha?” she asked.

            “Thank you, Kagome. I… I didn’t know what I was going to do if you had said yes.”

            An immense weight lifted off of her and she relaxed completely at his soft words. He hadn’t wanted to get rid of her after all.

            “So you didn’t want me to stay here.”

            He looked at her, his eyes heartbroken. “Never. But I wanted to do what was right for you…”

            She turned around, held Yukio with one hand and grabbed Inuyasha’s chin with the other. “Let me decide what’s right for me from now on, okay?

            He nodded gratefully. “Okay.”

            “Good,” she said with finality then leaned towards him. “Now hold me you infuriating, rude hanyou because you just scared the hell out of me, and I just can’t take any more upset right now.”

            He made a sound that was half chuckle and half sigh of relief, and wrapped his arms around her.

            “I’m sorry I worried you,” he apologized, burying his face in her hair.

            “Just don’t do it again.”

            “I was scared too. I was scared you’d choose to stay here.”

            “You should know by now that I’d never do that. I’ve told you before that I always want to be by your side.”

            “Yes, but you will sacrifice so much to do it.”

            “That’s my choice.”

            “Yes,” he admitted.

            “But at least now you know how I feel every time you go off with Kikyou, and I don’t know if you’re coming back,” she commented off-handedly.

            He stiffened and was quiet for several moments, and she knew her words had hit home. She was certain that he was going to say something in answer when her mother interrupted them with a knock on the door.

            “Kagome? Kagome is everything all right?” the older woman asked through the closed door.

            “Hai, Mama. We’re fine,” she replied.

            “Breakfast is ready.”

            “Thank you, Mama, we’ll be down very soon.”

            “All right.”

            Kagome pulled away from Inuyasha, slipping out of his arms and stood up, still holding Yukio.

            “We should go eat, then I need to take a bath before I go out shopping,” she told him, giving him back his haori.

            He nodded and took the garment, but he was frowning.

             _‘Hmm. I really hit him with that, didn’t I? Well, maybe it’ll make him think twice about a few things.’_

            She reached down and picked up Yukio’s blanket, wrapping him in it before opening her bedroom door. Inuyasha stood from the bed, his eyes still downcast, and came up behind her.

            “Let’s go eat,” she offered, moving to leave the room.

            “I’ll always come back,” he said suddenly.

            She froze and stared at him in shock. “Inuyasha…”

            “I promised you I’d never leave your side again. I know I’ve broken that promise- a little- after you… saved Kikyou, but I’ve always come back. And I  ** _will_**  always come back. So don’t ever be scared that I won’t, okay?”

             _‘A little? And what about your promise to protect her and go to Hell with her? How are you going to ‘always come back’ from that?’_  she wanted to say, but she knew that would only start another argument. Besides, she knew what he meant anyway and knew he was sincere, at least in that moment. For now, she was content with his answer. “Okay. Now, let’s go. I’m hungry and we didn’t eat dinner last night.”

            He nodded and followed her down the stairs.

            Once in the kitchen, Mama put plates with sausage and eggs down for them and bowls of rice and miso. Inuyasha nodded in thanks for the food, but detoured to the refrigerator. He opened the ‘cold box’ as he called it, and pulled out one of the clay jars full of liver. This he gave to her mother.

            “Here is liver for Kagome. She needs the nutrients because she is making milk for the pup,” he told her.

            The older woman took the jar from him and gave Kagome a stunned look.

            “Kagome?”

            “Just take some out and boil it, please, Mama,” she said, sitting down at the table and putting Yukio in her lap.

            “But…” She stopped and Kagome knew she was going to say ‘But you hate liver.’ but stopped herself. Instead she said, “Of course, Inuyasha.”

            “Kagome says the liver here in your time is not as good as the liver in mine, so I hunted and brought extra.”

            “You hunted?” her mother repeated.

            “Inuyasha hunts in the Feudal Era, Mama. He’s a good provider,” she explained.

            Mama Higurashi lifted the skin lid of the clay pot and looked inside, her eyes opening wide at the sight of the glistening contents.

            “I can see that,” she commented, then obediently retrieved a clean sauce pan and filled it with water. “How much should I put in?”

            Inuyasha stuck his hand into the jar and pulled out a bloody handful, dropping it into the pot.

            “That much’ll do,” he said, ignoring their stares.

            He washed off his hand in the sink, took the jar from her mother, put the lid back on it and returned it to the refrigerator. Then he sat down at the table and began heartily eating his sausage and eggs.

            Kagome just shook her head and turned to her own breakfast.

            “Mama, I have to go shopping today. I want to get new diapers for Yukio and some clothes. And I need a few things for myself.”

            “All right. Would you like me to come with you?”

            “If you want to,” she replied, eating a spoonful of her miso. She knew her mother wanted to talk to her. An outing together involving shopping would probably be a safe way for her and her mother to reconnect after the debacle of the previous day.

            “I think I’d like that.”

            Kagome nodded, then turned her attention to Yukio who was fussing a bit.

            “He needs changed,” Inuyasha said simply, crinkling his nose.

            “Mmm,” she agreed, putting down her spoon.

            As if by previous agreement, they both stood. Inuyasha went upstairs to get a clean diaper and moss from her bag, and she went into the living room. By the time she had the dirty diaper off, he had brought her the new one and a dampened cleaning cloth.

            “What is that?” her mother asked, seeing the layer of moss she placed on the inside of the baby’s diaper.

            “Moss.”

            “Moss?”

            She nodded. “It absorbs the wetness and keeps it away from his skin,” she explained.

            “Is that… sanitary?”

            Kagome shrugged. “He seems fine so far and all the women in the Feudal Era use it in their babies’ diapers.”

            “They do?”

            She nodded again, doing up the diaper around Yukio’s hips and fastening it. Then she wrapped him back up in his blanket and gave him a cuddle. He gurgled at her and snuffled into her neck.

            “How old is he?” her mother questioned.

            “Ummm… almost nine weeks,” she answered, standing and walking back to the kitchen. Inuyasha was already there and eating.

            “Nine weeks? He’s big for a baby that young.”

            “Inuyasha says youkai and hanyou babies develop faster than human ones.”

            “Can he turn over yet?”

            Kagome nodded. “Yeah, and he can crawl on his belly pretty well too.”

            “Keh, he could probably do that from birth,” Inuyasha commented. “Pups have to be able to squirm to find the teat.”

            She moved to sit back down in her chair so she could eat.

            “Kagome, may I hold him?” her mother asked.

            She paused, thinking, then gently pulled Yukio away from her shoulder and offered him to her mother.

            “Ummm, sure,” she said.

            As the baby changed hands, he fussed a little, balking at the unfamiliar scent.

            “Shhhh, it’s okay Yukio. She’s my mom and she just wants to hold you for a little while, okay?” she soothed.

            The baby turned worried golden eyes her way and she gave him a scratch behind his ears.

            “It’s okay, baby. Kaa-san’s right here.”

            Mama Higurashi brought the infant up to her shoulder the way she had seen Kagome do and rubbed his puppy ears. The action and the lack of fear from his mother seemed to calm him and he settled down. She sat down next to Kagome on the side closest to her so Yukio could see her.

            “Ooof, he’s heavy.”

            Kagome shrugged and returned to her breakfast.

            “Heh, he eats well,” Inuyasha said, a hint of pride in his voice.

            “So I’ve seen,” Mama commented. “Yukio… nourished by God.”

            Kagome stared at her mother, her mouth full. “Y… you know that?” she stammered, swallowing.

            “I’m the daughter of a shrine family, and unlike you, I did pay attention to what Jii-chan was telling me.”

            Kagome blushed, then changed the subject. “Where is Jii-chan?”

            “He had to go out to a neighboring shrine this morning on business. He’ll be back later.”

            “Liver’s ready,” Inuyasha interrupted, noticing the steaming pot on the stove.

            Kagome stood up, took the pot and poured out the boiling water, then she crumbled up the cooked liver with a bread knife and put it into her miso. It was as good a way as any to eat it, and might just make it more tolerable.

            “So, Kagome,” her mother questioned, bouncing Yukio lightly on her lap. “What else can Yukio do?”

            “Ummmm… he makes special sounds for when he’s hungry and needs to be changed, and other things too. It’s like his own little language. He’s really smart. He’s already learned not to bite me when he’s nursing.”

            “He has?” the older woman said with a wistful sigh. “If only your brother had been so easy. He drew blood on more than one occasion.”

            Kagome grimaced. “Ouch. Well, his jaws are really strong and if he bites me when he has teeth, he could really hurt me so it was important that he learn not to do that before he started teething.”

            “He’s very alert for a nine week old. I see him following your every move and responding to your voice,” Mama noted.

            “He responds to scent as well, and he’s real sensitive to emotions. If I’m upset, he starts to fuss and worry.”

            “Does he sleep through the night?”

            “Ummm, mostly. Usually he’ll wake me up once or twice because he’s hungry, but because he’s right in bed with me, I don’t even have to get up, and sometimes he just feeds himself.”

            “We should get him a cradle while we’re out today.”

            “Why?” Kagome asked.

            “What’s a cradle?” Inuyasha questioned.

            “It’s a little bed for babies. It usually rocks back and forth, and babies sleep in them,” Mama answered.

            “Keh, we don’t need that. The pup sleeps with Kagome.”

            “He shouldn’t.”

            “Why not?” both of them asked.

            “Because it’s dangerous. Many babies die or get hurt when they fall out of bed or their parents roll on them.”

            “Bah! Kagome won’t roll on him, and even if she did, she wouldn’t hurt him. He’s a hanyou pup. He’s made of tougher stuff than human whelps.”

            “She could roll on his head and suffocate him, or he could get tangled up in the sheets and strangle himself,” the older woman warned.

            Inuyasha snorted. “You think he’s that stupid? This pup knows better.”

            “Still… as he gets older, he’ll grow much larger and take up more room.”

            “It’s okay. Shippou still sleeps with me too.”

            “Shippou?”

            “The kitsune kit.”

            “Oh, yes. Now I remember him. How old is he?”

            “He’s three but he looks older.”

            “Hmmm, I see.”

            Kagome finished her miso. “Inuyasha says he’ll start teething any day now, and he thinks he’ll be walking and talking by seven months.”

            “Seven months? That’s early.”

            “Not for a hanyou,” Inuyasha said.

            Kagome stood up and put her dirty dishes in the sink. “I’m going to go take a bath. I’ll be ready to go after that.”

            “All right.”

            Yukio made a distressed sound and his eyes opened wide as he watched her leave the room.

            “Here, give the pup to me before he starts fussing because he can’t smell his mother,” Inuyasha said, coming over to get him.

            Mama Higurashi gave him the baby and the infant settled down immediately, recognizing his father. He sat down and cuddled the baby while she did the dishes. She watched him as he kept the baby entertained with fingers and locks of hair.

            “You make a good father,” she commented fondly.

            Inuyasha shrugged. “I try.”

            She nodded and turned to the sink.

            “I told her you wanted to talk to her,” he said.

            “Thank you. I’ll try to talk with her while we’re out.”

            “Kagome likes shopping so I think she will be in a good mood.”

            “Exactly.”

            “I’m going to take the pup back upstairs,” he told her.

            “Alright.”

            Hefting the baby to his shoulder, Inuyasha stood and left the kitchen. Once upstairs, he knocked on the door of the bathroom and waited for Kagome to acknowledge him.

            “Yes?” came her concerned voice.

            “The pup and I are going into your room. Is that okay?” he said.

            “Ummm… yeah. It’s okay.”

            “Alright then.”

            Turning away from the door and ignoring Yukio’s questioning gurgle at the sound of his mother’s voice, he carried the pup to Kagome’s room and lay down on the bed beside him. He unwrapped the pup from his blanket and put him on his back. The charm the old man had put on him was still around the pup’s neck and he fingered the dark stone absently. Yukio kicked a little and waved his fists, wanting attention. He was dry and fed after all, and that meant playtime- at least until it was naptime. He took one tiny hand in his own and let the pup draw the fingertip to his mouth. He felt the beginnings of lumps forming on the pup’s gums, and knew teeth were not far behind.

            “Teething already, eh? You’d better not bite your mother,” he warned.

            Yukio just gurgled and half-barked a little yip. Inuyasha growled softly under his breath and answered the pup with a small bark of his own, knowing the pup would instinctively know the language of the inu-youkai. Pups were born knowing the basics.

            The pup’s eyes opened wide as he smiled and laughed at his father. Inuyasha smiled back, and lowered his nose to snuffle the pup’s belly playfully, mock growling and snarling. Yukio responded with a high pitched happy squeal that was all human because no youkai pup would ever make such a noise that blasted poor inu-ears so badly. They were still ringing when the pup grabbed two handfuls of hair and pulled.

            “Ow ow ow ow ow! Leggo! Leggo!” he complained, trying to extract his hair from the pup’s fists, putting it behind his shoulders and out of pup-reach. 

            Yukio reacted to the loss by sticking his fist in his mouth and looking forlorn. Inuyasha rubbed his belly in silent apology.

            “You’re growing fast, pup. I can see the difference in you already and you haven’t been with us two weeks.”

            Yukio had nothing to say in answer. The rubbing action on his belly was lulling him and his eyes were growing sleepy. Inuyasha watched the big eyes open and close slowly as the pup tried to fight sleep, but eventually lost the battle. His little face relaxed as he fell asleep, his fist dropping from his mouth to land on his chest. Inuyasha nuzzled his hair with his nose and covered him back up with his blanket. The pup gave a soft sigh as Inuyasha closed his own eyes and lightly dozed.

            A short time later, Kagome opened the bedroom door and slipped in.

            “I have to get some clothes. Don’t you dare peep,” she warned.

            He cracked his eyes open just a little bit to see her dressed in her robe with a towel wrapped around her hair, but closed them quickly when she turned his way.

            “I’m not peeping,” he replied honestly.  _‘At least, not anymore.’_

            “You’d better not.”

            He smiled, his eyes still closed. It was an old joke between them because both had seen the other naked on a number of occasions for various reasons, all accidental or unavoidable. The incident with the Peach Man came to mind, and another time when Kagome and Sango were bathing and they were attacked. Of course, Kagome had seen him when Sesshoumaru’s toad had stolen Tessaiga when he and Miroku had been in the hot spring, and also during the time Souta had tricked him into getting into a steaming hot bath (he still didn’t know how modern humans could tolerate such hot water!)

            The most recent time had been a few weeks before they killed Naraku. The bastard had known his time was running out, and had sent a puppet to attack them when he thought they were vulnerable. He and Miroku had been bathing when the puppet blasted their camp, and there had been no time to worry about anything but grabbing Tessaiga and running to protect Kagome. He’d fought nude, heedless of his bare skin or the shocked looks from the women, and sent the puppet back to hell with a series of Kaze no Kizus that had blasted it into tiny pieces. Well, Kagome had helped too… and Sango, she’d gotten a few good shots in with Hiraikoutsu, and Miroku with Kazanna until the Saimyoushou showed up… but it’d been mostly him. Or at least, that’s how he remembered it.

            When the danger had passed, he had turned to make sure Kagome was alright. She’d blushed furiously and screamed for him to sit, slamming him to the ground. Miroku had tossed his clothes on top of him, making him realize the full gravity of what had happened, and he’d been more mortified than the time he’d gone full youkai and slaughtered humans. Afterwards, however, it had been the running joke for weeks, and a source of pride. Inuyasha could fight Naraku stark naked and still beat the shit out of him.

            After that incident, it sufficed to say that Kagome had seen all he had to offer, and he’d stopped being body conscious around her. He still covered up for modesty’s sake but after someone sees you slicing up an enemy with nothing on except a sword and a wicked smile, it took the mystery out of things. She’d relaxed a little around him as well. The last time he’d rushed in on her at the hot springs, she’d only sat him once, and the time here, when he’d come in while she was feeding Yukio, she hadn’t sat him at all.

             _‘Hmmm, maybe… maybe she doesn’t mind so much anymore if I see her naked,_ ’ he thought.

            Of course, with the pup and the new closeness they were sharing, it was only natural for him to once again entertain fantasies of what it would be like to  ** _be_**   ** _with_** Kagome. In fact, he was more hopeful for a more intimate and permanent relationship with her than he had been in a very long time. This morning she’d chosen him and Yukio without a moment’s hesitation. Did that mean she would choose and accept all of him if he offered it? Sango had told him that she would, but he’d told the taijiya that he’d never doom Kagome to a life of danger and ridicule.

             _‘But will her staying with me to raise the pup be any different than if we were fully mates?’_

            The thought gave him pause and he knew he needed to do some serious thinking.

            In the meantime, Kagome had gathered the clothing she’d wanted and headed back out to the bathroom to dress. She returned a few minutes later with her mother behind her.

            “Mama wants me to bring Yukio along with us,” she told him.

            That made his eyes flare open wide. “What?”

            “She has a hat for him to hide his ears,” she said, picking up Yukio’s baby sling and her bag with his clean diapers.

            “You’re going to take the pup out  ** _there_**  with you?” he asked with alarm.

            She blinked at him. “Yes. Why? Is there something wrong with my taking him? He’ll need to be fed in a few hours anyway. It’s better if he’s with me.”

            “Because your world is hard on  ** _my_**  senses. What will it do to the pup?”

            “Oh… Well, we’ll try it and if he’s too fussy and unhappy, I’ll bring him back, okay?”

            He looked at the sleeping pup, his face full of concern.

            “I don’t know…”

            Kagome giggled and gave him a scratch behind his ears. “Don’t worry, Otou. Kaa-san won’t let anything happen to Baby.”

            “Feh. Oyaji,” he corrected again.

            She gave him another fond look, but picked up Yukio, covered his head with a little blue knit cap, and put him in his sling. He made a gurgling sound and a sigh, but otherwise did not stir. She put the sling on and positioned it so the pup was against her front, slightly to the left, then she moved to leave.

            Inuyasha stood and followed her and her mother to the outside doors.

            “You’ll come back if he starts to fuss and cry?” he asked, a growing worry in his guts. She was taking the pup out into that stinking, noisy place he hated.

            “Yes. I’ll bring him back the moment he starts to object. I promise.”

            “Protect his ears. Your town is too loud.”

            “I will. I will. Stop fussing,” she assured, putting on her shoes.

            “Do you have his diapers?” he asked, walking with her and her mother as they crossed the shrine grounds. Mama Higurashi was giving him amused looks and he could tell she was trying to keep from laughing.

            Kagome patted her bag. “Yes. I have clean diapers, cleaning cloths and moss.”

            “And you’ll be back at lunchtime? Remember you have to study for your test.”

            “Yes. We’ll be back by one. If you get hungry, you know how to make yourself some ramen, right?” she asked.

            “Boil water on the gas stove, put it in the cup, count to 90,” he replied.

            “Right.”

            “And you have everything you need to feed him?”

            She gave him an incredulous look. “I have my breasts. What else do I need?”

            Mama snickered behind him.

            “Something to cover yourself with, woman,” he snapped back, irritated at being laughed at even as he was taking off his haori. “Here, take this.”

            “I really don’t need it. I have my jacket,” she answered, indicating the light blue coat she wore.

             _‘But you always wear this when you nurse…’_  “Still, it smells like me, and it’s strong and will protect the pup,” he insisted, shoving it at her until she took it, folding it and slipping under the strap of the baby sling.

            “Thank you, Inuyasha. We’re going now,” she said, looking a little miffed.

            They’d come to the steps and the shrine archway. Mama walked ahead, giving him a moment alone with Kagome.

            “You’ll be careful?” he asked.

            Her impatient look faded and she stroked his cheek gently. “I promise. Everything will be fine.”

            “Come back safe,” he whispered, touching his forehead to hers.

            “We will.”

            He gave her a quick hug then let her go.

            “I’ll watch the clock. If you’re a minute later than one, I’ll come looking for you,” he warned.

            She rolled her eyes. “Yes, overprotective Otou.”

            “Oyaji!” he yelled back as she descended the stairs, leaving him behind and feeling oddly bereft.

            She waved a hand and joined her mother, going off into that world of stink and racket. He stood at the top of the stairs and watched until he couldn’t see them anymore.  

             _‘Alone again,’_  he thought sadly.  _‘I hate it here. I hate having to stay here in this shrine while she goes out **there**. The only thing worthwhile in this damned place is the food.’_

            He turned to walk slowly back to the house, but detoured to the God Tree. He stared at it for a moment, then leaped into its branches, climbing high so he could see the city. Friday. Kagome had said her tests were done on Friday. If he’d learned her calendar correctly, today was Tuesday. That meant they had four more days including today before they could go home.

             _‘Four more days, Kagome. Then we’re gone. I can’t wait to get back so I don’t have to be left behind anymore.’_

            He stayed in the God Tree, keeping vigil until Kagome returned with his son.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

 

            Kagome and her mother went to a department store first. There Kagome bought three nursing bras from the maternity section, ignoring the shocked and concerned looks on the faces of the saleswomen when she opted to wear one out of the store thus proving that  ** _she_**  was the baby’s mother and not the older, more proper, woman with her. The bras were a far sight different from her usual lacy underwires, but she needed the extra support. It didn’t help that her mother told her that her breasts would probably not shrink much even after she stopped making milk. Ordinarily a girl would be happy to increase her bust size, but in this case Kagome hoped they would get at least a little smaller because they were heavy and threw her balance off.

            Yukio stayed quiet and only seemed to get fussy when they got close to the perfume and cosmetic department so she avoided it and went directly to infants-wear. There she picked out two types of diapers: a pack of the disposable kind and a pack of the new cloth diapers that were supposed to be as good as disposables. She didn’t want to bring disposable diapers to the Feudal Era because she knew how polluting they were. She also got a diaper bag with lots of storage pockets for everything a baby needed.

            Her mother pointed out a number of cradles and cribs but she refused them all. She did let her mother buy a car seat that doubled as a bassinet, however, for times when she would have to take Yukio in a car. The item was too big for them to carry so they arranged to have it delivered. She also bought two new baby blankets, a teething ring, and a couple of bibs.

            Their next stop was a store that specialized in baby and infant clothing and needs. There she stocked up on new clothes for Yukio, picking out a couple of one-pieces and some shirt and pant sets, and socks for his little feet. Then she came across a red t-shirt with a black and white dog head on it that said “BIG DOG” in English, and she just had to have it. She bought it and put it on him while they were still in the store. It was way too big for him, but she knew he’d grow into it soon enough.

            Everywhere they went people stared and ogled at her and Yukio. Women constantly wanted to ‘see the baby,’ cooing at him and marveling at his silver hair and golden eyes. He didn’t seem to mind being stared at and talked to, although he was getting a little cranky from being constantly jostled and woken up. There was one particularly obnoxious woman with too much perfume and jewelry whom Yukio growled at when she started saying what a cute baby he was and ‘coo-chee-coo-chee-coo.’ His little growl was so cute that Kagome wasn’t able to stop him before it was too late. The woman, heedless of the hanyou pup’s warning, touched him and scratched him under his chin so he bit her. The woman gasped as she snatched her hand back and stared at Kagome who winced and let out a string of ‘gomen-nasai’s and ‘bad baby! we don’t bite!’s even though she was secretly proud of him for defending himself. The woman sniffed haughtily at her and stormed off. Kagome wasn’t sorry to see her go.

            By the time they had finished at the baby store, it was approaching noon and both Yukio and her breasts were telling her it was time to find a quiet place to nurse him. There was a park with a playground and a picnic area with trees not far from where they were, so she headed for that. They passed an obento shop on the way and her mother bought two for their lunch.

            Once in the park, Kagome chose a spot a good distance away from the playground and tables, sequestered in a tiny copse of four trees and sat down with her back against the trunk of one as her mother sat next to her. She pulled Inuyasha’s haori from the strap of the baby sling and draped it over her shoulders. Yukio, showing his intelligence and development again, saw the red fabric, knew what it meant and began to get excited. She laughed softly and tickled his belly as she took off her jacket, opened her shirt and drew down the nursing flap on the new bra. Then she took him out of his blanket and brought him to her breast. He began to feed immediately, making little happy burbles as he sucked, and she cradled him with one arm as she ate her own lunch.

            “It’s a beautiful day,” her mother sighed.

            Kagome looked at the blue sky and sunshine and had to agree, although she also had to agree with Inuyasha that modern day Tokyo was horribly noisy and smelly compared to the sweet breezes and soft forest sounds of the Sengoku Jidai.

_‘Inuyasha… he looked so forlorn and sad when we left him behind this morning.’_

            “Kagome…” her mother began and she knew the time for ‘The Talk’ had come. She turned her head to look at her mom, waiting for her to continue.

            “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

            “You should have trusted me. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that,” she answered.

            “I know, and you’re right, I should have. I have no excuse for why I behaved the way I did.”

            Kagome looked at Yukio, thinking about how she would feel if she believed her baby was in danger. “You were trying to protect me. I understand.”

            “Do you?”

            She nodded. “Yes, I do, but… But this is my life, Mama, and I have to make these choices.”

            “I know that, but do you really understand the choices you are making, Kagome? You’re not even seventeen.”

            “I know I’m young, but back in the Feudal Era I’d have been married off the moment I had my first period.”

            “And had your first child by the age of fifteen, no doubt,” her mother agreed. “But you can’t compare this time and that one. Don’t you know what you are doing to your future?”

            “I have no idea what my future is, Mama. I’m different. I live two lives. One here and one there. I can’t just walk away from that.”

            “I’m not asking you to. I just want you to think about the consequences,” her mother argued.

            “Like what? Like the pitying looks I got when those saleswomen found out Yukio was mine and not my baby brother? Or the trouble I’m going to have tomorrow and the next few days when I have to go to school, but somehow have to find a way to feed him? Not to mention how much trouble I’d be in if someone at school found out I was nursing a baby. Do you think any of them would believe I’m still a virgin? They’d all look at me like that doctor did yesterday. And that’s just here. How about the prejudiced people in the Feudal Era who hate hanyous and want to kill Yukio, and Inuyasha, and me? What about the youkai who hate hanyous? They’ll try to kill us too,” she replied, switching Yukio to the next nipple.

            She found she liked the new bra. It hid her fairly well so she didn’t bother to cover herself up with Inuyasha’s haori. Besides, where they were was quite secluded byTokyo standards and there was no one nearby.

            Her mother shook her head. “So much danger and violence. Kagome, how can you stand it?”

            Kagome shrugged. “I just do. And I’m not alone. I have my friends, and Inuyasha. Inuyasha protects me.”

            “Inuyasha is in love with you.”

            “I know,” she answered simply. Even though he’d never said it, she still knew.

            “You know what he wants from you.”

            She shook her head. “No I don’t. I don’t know. I don’t even think he knows. Right now he’s saying we’ll stay together and raise Yukio. But he made a promise to Kikyou and she intends to make him keep it. I don’t know what he is going to do when he remembers that.”

            “This Kikyou, she’s…”

            “The undead miko Urasue resurrected. The one whose soul I have… or had. I’m not sure anymore. She’s also Inuyasha’s first love. Fifty years ago Naraku tricked them into betraying each other and he blames himself for it,” she explained, but she knew she’d already told her mother all of this so there was no need to go into any detail.

            “She’s also the one you saved?”

            Kagome nodded. “Yeah.” She looked down at Yukio who looked up at her with shining golden eyes as he nursed contentedly, his hat had fallen off revealing his puppy ears which she rubbed lovingly before putting the hat back on. “I don’t know what she is going to do when she finds out about Yukio.”

            “What do you think she will do?”

            “I’m not sure. I mean… it would look like I took her life even more wouldn’t it? She was supposed to be with Inuyasha and live her life with him, but then Naraku tricked them and well… Now I think she sees me as the interloper who took her man,” she sighed. “Actually, she’s all but said that to me on a number of occasions.”    

            “But if I remember what you told me of this story, Kikyou wanted Inuyasha to become human.”

            “Yes. She wanted him to use the Shikon no Tama to become human so they could live their lives together,” she confirmed with a sad nod.

            “But Inuyasha isn’t human. Inuyasha is a half-demon,” Mama pointed out.

            “Yes, but the Shikon no Tama would have made him human if he’d wished on it.”

            Kagome saw a pensive look come to her mother’s face.

            “Why did Kikyou want Inuyasha to become human?”

            “So they could be together.”

            “Why couldn’t they be together with him as he was?”

            “Because she was a miko and he’s a hanyou, and hanyous are impure because they have demon blood.”

            “I see… So… you’re telling me that the boy who would die for you and frets over you and takes care of you and loves you with everything he has is impure and unworthy of a miko’s love? And you’re telling me that this innocent, helpless baby suffers the same impurity?” Mama commented.

            Kagome frowned. “Sick, isn’t it.”

            “It’s more than sick, Kagome. It’s pathetically sad.”

            “I know.”

            “Kikyou didn’t love Inuyasha. She couldn’t have if she wanted him to change like that for her; if she thought he was impure.”

            “I know,” she whispered back, lifting Yukio to her shoulder to burp him because he was finished, and putting her clothing back in order.

            She checked his diaper and changed him, using one of the new disposables, while Mama watched quietly. Then she let him stay on the blanket, looking up at her from his position on his back. He reached for her so she gave him a finger to hold and he grasped it with both hands.

            “What are you going to do, Kagome?” her mother finally asked.

            “I don’t know. Live, I guess. I’ll just take it one day at a time, Mama, and do the best I can. It’s all I really can do. I don’t think further ahead than the next shard or the next test. Speaking of tests… we should get back. I have to study and it’s getting late. If we’re not back by one Inuyasha  ** _will_**  come tracking us.”

            Mama giggled. “I know he will.”

            Kagome took off Inuyasha’s haori and folded it back up as she put her jacket back on. Then she picked Yukio up, gave him a kiss and a snuggle before wrapping him in his blanket and putting him in his sling. Standing, she slipped the strap over her head and under her arm so he was against her body, safe and secure, and looked at her mother.

            Mama stood as well, gathered the empty bento boxes and their shopping bags, and together they walked towards home.

            “Do you forgive me?” Mama asked suddenly, as she put the empty lunch boxes into the public trash can.

            “Yes,” Kagome answered.

            “Thank you.”

            “You’re my mother. You didn’t mean to hurt me. You were scared and thought you were doing the right thing. Just… just don’t do it again, okay?”

            Her mother smiled at her. “I won’t. I’ll make new mistakes instead of repeating old ones. And so will you.”

            “I know, and I’ll come running to you when I mess up with him and don’t know what to do.”

            Mama laughed softly. “I’ll buy you your own sake when you’re twenty.”

            “Why twenty?”

            “Because then you’ll be of age.”

            “Heh, there’s no drinking age in the Sengoku Jidai,” she pointed out teasingly.

            “Then you can get your own sake there.”

            Kagome giggled and felt her heart get lighter. Things between her and her mother would be okay. They walked together, teasing and laughing, all the way back to the shrine.

            Inuyasha was waiting for them at the top of the shrine steps when they returned, his arms crossed and his face irritated.

            “You’re late.”

            She looked at her watch and saw that it read 1:03. “By 3 minutes.”

            “Feh! It was a good thing I could smell you, otherwise I would have come hunting.”

            She gave him a fond look and a pat. “Did you eat lunch?”

            “I made ramen.”

            “Is Jii-chan back yet?” Mama asked as they crossed the shrine grounds.

            “No, not yet.”

            “So you were alone all morning?” the older woman questioned, her voice slightly apologetic.

            “Keh! Like I care,” he snapped back a little too quickly.

            Kagome, reading his mood and knowing that he  ** _did_**  care about being left all by himself, rubbed his back as they walked. He didn’t acknowledge her gesture, but he did lean back a little into her touch, and she smiled to herself.

_‘You were lonely, weren’t you, Inuyasha?’_

            Together they entered the house and went into the kitchen.

            “You ate SIX cups of ramen?!” Kagome squeaked, seeing the empty containers in trash.

            “What? I was hungry!”

            Mama just laughed and shook her head, putting the shopping bags down on the table.

            “Has a delivery boy arrived yet?” she asked.

            “Huh?” Inuyasha answered.

            “We had some things sent here while we were shopping. Have they arrived?”

            Inuyasha shrugged. “No one’s come yet. There were some people who came to visit the shrine, but I left them alone and they went away.”

            Mama nodded that she understood.

            “I’m sure he’ll arrive later this afternoon then.”

            “How was the pup?” Inuyasha asked, focusing on the sleeping bundle in the sling, nose sniffing to reassure himself that the pup’s scent was normal.

            Kagome giggled. “He was fine, but you’re not going to believe what he did.”

            “What did he do?”

            “Well, there was a woman who had too much perfume on and she wanted to see him, but he started to  ** _growl_**  at her. I heard this little ‘gggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’ coming from him and at first I didn’t realize that he was warning her off.”

            “Heh, good for him. She probably stank.”

            Kagome crinkled her nose in recollection. “She did smell strongly, and I know he didn’t like it when we got close to the perfumes in the store. But that’s not all. She wouldn’t leave him alone, so when she touched him he  ** _bit_**  her!”

            Inuyasha chuckled and rubbed Yukio’s head, knocking off the hat again and waking him.

            “That’s my pup. You tell those stinking humans to leave you alone, right?”

            “Hey,  ** _I’m_**  a stinking human, y’know.”

            He blinked at her. “No you’re not. You don’t pour false scent on you.”

            “I wear perfume sometimes,” she reminded.

            “Not a lot.”

            She could see he was itching to hold Yukio so she took him out of his sling and handed him over. It was time for her to study anyway. Inuyasha saw the hint of red under the blanket and unwrapped him to see what it was.

            “Eh? What is this?” he asked, seeing the red shirt with the dog on it.

            Kagome blushed. “Ummm, it’s a new shirt I bought him. Isn’t it cute?”

            Inuyasha screwed up his nose and blinked. “It’s a got a dog on it.”

            “I know. It’s perfect.”

            “What’s this funny writing?”

            “Ummm… that’s English.”

            “English. You take tests in English,” he commented.

            She nodded. “Yes.”

            “What’s it say?”

            She gulped. “Umm… it says big dog.”

            He raised an eyebrow. “Big dog?”

            “You don’t think so?”

            Yukio burbled and yipped. Inuyasha gave a little growl back, bringing the baby up to his face.

            “I don’t care what your funny kimono says,  ** _I’m_**  the big dog around here, pup. You’re just a little whelp. Got it?”

            Yukio grabbed his nose and squeezed, making Inuyasha yowl and pull his head away. He growled at the baby, but the infant just laughed.

            “Keh. Spoiled whelp,” he snorted, but tucked him close to his shoulder.

            Kagome just giggled. “I think he gets more like you every day. You’re a bad influence.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” he complained.

            “He’s becoming rude, bad tempered and selfish,” she teased, making sure Inuyasha knew she wasn’t serious by rubbing his ears.

            “Feh. That’s why I’m Oyaji,” he said, closing his eyes as she rubbed.

            “Well, Oyaji, I have to study. Yukio’s all yours now,” she told him stepping back and ignoring his sigh when she stopped rubbing.

            “Has he been changed?”

            She rolled her eyes. “Yes. I changed him when I fed him at lunch.”

            “Okay then.”

            “If you need me, I’ll be upstairs in my room.”

            He nodded. “Okay.”

            She gave Yukio a little kiss and nuzzled Inuyasha’s chin, then left them in the kitchen with her mother.

            All was quiet for hours. She sat at her desk, going over the material for the test the next day and no one disturbed her. She took a break around 4 to change and feed Yukio, then returned to her studies until her mother called her down to dinner. She was memorizing some things for the test when there was a knock on the door.

            Thinking it was her mom coming to tell her dinner was ready, she called back, “I’ll be right down!”

            There was no answer, but her door opened and she turned to see Inuyasha standing in the doorway holding Yukio. His face was worried.

            “What is it?” she asked, responding to his concern with her own.

            “His scent’s changed.”

            She blinked, trying to figure out the meaning of Inuyasha’s words. Then her eyes opened wide.

            “Oh no! Tonight’s…”

            “His human night. Yeah, I think so,” he replied.

            She looked at her calendar, the one she’d bought precisely because it had the moon phases on it. “Tonight’s the full moon.”

            Inuyasha nodded. “At least we don’t share the same night.”

            “That’s good.”

            “Yeah, but he’s getting really fussy. I think he can feel the change coming and he doesn’t understand.”

            She got up and came over to them, rubbing Yukio’s back and cooing to him. Inuyasha had him against his shoulder and he was whimpering softly.

            “Shhhhh, baby. Otou and Kaa-san are here. You’ll be alright.”

            “He’ll probably transform at sunset and be human until sunrise. His youkai scent started to fade at dusk.”

            “At least we know when it happens now, and we’re here in my time so he’s safe,” she noted, offering some comfort to the obviously worried adult hanyou.

            “Yeah.”

            “Inuyasha, what’s wrong?” she asked.  _‘Why are you so concerned about this? What aren’t you telling me?’_

            He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just… He’s getting really upset and I don’t think he’s going to settle down. It’s like he’s trying to fight the change.”

            “But he can’t stop it.”

            “I know. I just don’t know how quiet he’ll be. He’ll interrupt your studying.”

            “We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

            “Yeah,” he admitted with a sigh.

            Just then, Mama called them down to dinner and they went to eat. During dinner, full sunset fell and Inuyasha was right. Yukio’s silver hair darkened to black, and his eyes turned dark brown. His ears moved down to the sides of his head, and his claws faded to human nails. And he began to cry. And cry. And cry. And cry.

            “He’s scared out of his wits,” Inuyasha explained when Yukio had been at it for almost two hours. The adult hanyou was walking him, rocking him, and trying to let Kagome study but her baby’s cries were too distracting. “He feels cut off. He can’t smell. He can’t hear. He can’t see. His body feels completely different. He doesn’t understand what’s happening to him and we can’t make it go away.”

            He got worse when Inuyasha took him out of Kagome’s sight, or rather when he took Kagome out of  ** _Yukio’s_**  sight.

            “Kagome, I’m sorry. I know you need to study but he won’t stop crying if he can’t see you,” he said, coming back into her bedroom after trying to take him out.

            “It’s okay, really.”

            “It’s not. You have to study and he’s distracting you.”

            “I’ll survive.”

            After a while, he seemed to settle, or at least run out of steam, and Kagome found that if he could tell she was close by, he was a little calmer.

            “I wonder if that’s because he lost his mother. He thinks I’ve gone away and won’t come back,” she commented.

            Inuyasha nodded, sitting with Yukio on her bed, rocking him slightly. “When he has his hanyou powers, he can smell you nearby and knows you’re around even if he can’t see you. Without the nose, he thinks you’ve abandoned him.”

            “Poor little baby. Otou and Kaa-san won’t ever leave you,” she assured him, nuzzling his little cheek and kissing him.

            He sniffled and reached for her so she took him into her arms. He worried at her neck and gripped her shirt tightly in both fists, but appeared to be calming down. That is, until Inuyasha went out of his sensing range to use the bathroom. Then he started fussing again.

            “See, there’s Otou,” Kagome assured, turning Yukio so he could see his father when he returned.

            Upon seeing Inuyasha, Yukio stopped whimpering, and just looked about with watery eyes.

            “Heh, looks like he wants both of us,” Inuyasha said, coming over and rubbing the baby’s head.

            “So it seems,” she agreed.

            Finally, they devised a plan using extra pillows for Kagome to study on the bed with Yukio between her and Inuyasha. Assured that both his parents were there with him, and worn out from all the crying, he eventually slipped into a restless sleep and both Inuyasha and Kagome breathed sighs of relief.

            “Is it that bad for you?” she asked Inuyasha suddenly. “Being human?”

            He looked away, thinking, as if trying to find the words to describe what it was like.

            “The worst is the loss of scent,” he replied. “You humans can’t understand how important it is to us. Smell tells us so much and when we don’t have it… it’s like being blind. I remember when I was a little whelp. My mother was so protective of me on the moonless nights, and I would cling to her because without my nose she was harder to find. After she died, I remember being terrified without her; vulnerable and helpless. I’d hide so no one would discover my secret. Mother always told me to never let anyone know when my nose stopped working and my hair and eyes turned black. Even after Sesshoumaru came for me, I still hid on those nights.”

            “Wait, wait.  ** _Sesshoumaru_**  came for you?”

            Inuyasha frowned at the bad memories but nodded. “Yeah. After Mother died and Oyaji was killed. Myouga-jiji told him I was orphaned and he came to do his duty as my older brother.”

            A sneer came to his face and she saw him clench a fist.

            “How long were you with him?” she asked, honored that he was sharing with her.

            “Until I could take care of and protect myself, which was as soon as I could get strong enough. He hated me as much as I would come to hate him.”

            “But you didn’t hate him right away.”

            He shook his head. “No. The hate would come later. At first, I was just grateful for someone to look after me. I was all alone and both my parents were dead. I thought that he would teach me...” He paused for several moments before continuing in a resigned voice, “My brother taught me many things. The first was that I was a hanyou and less than the dirt he walked on. The second was how to hate.”

            Kagome took his hand and held it tightly, trying to offer whatever comfort he would allow. He squeezed her hand briefly then let it go.

            “You should study. Your test is tomorrow.”

            “I know, and I am. It’s just…”

            “It was a long time ago. And I survived.” He looked down at Yukio sleeping between them. “And this one won’t suffer like I did. He has us to take care of him.”

            “Yes.”

            “He’ll have what I didn’t, and it’ll be okay. That’s good enough, isn’t it?”

            She nodded, tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked them away. “Yeah, it is.”

            Giving his hand another squeeze she returned to her books. She studied until she was too tired to stay awake, then lay down with Yukio against her chest. Inuyasha stayed on the bed, but remained sitting up and awake. He kept vigil over them all night long.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

 

            The next two days passed uneventfully. Kagome had her tests to study for and take, and most of her time was consumed by those two things. Inuyasha stayed behind with Yukio when Kagome went to school, but he would bring Yukio to her during her lunch break. She had half an hour for lunch and she would sneak up to the roof of the school. There Inuyasha would give her his haori, her lunch and the baby, and sit next to her while she ate her lunch and nursed Yukio. When she was finished, she would change him quickly and give him back to his father, then she would return to her classroom and Inuyasha would bring the baby back to the shrine.

            On Friday morning she had her worst test: math, and she came out of it feeling fairly confident that she’d done well. The test finished just at noon, and she hurried to turn it in and get up to the roof where she knew Inuyasha would be waiting for her. She was in such a rush that she didn’t notice the older woman she passed in the hall; the one who frowned when she saw Kagome and followed her into the stairwell.

            “I’m sorry I’m late,” Kagome apologized breathlessly, crossing the roof and joining Inuyasha by the side of the utility room on top of the school.

            He snorted at her and gave her his haori.

            “How did the test go?” he asked.

            She slipped the red garment over her shoulders, sat down, and reached for Yukio. “I think I did well.”

            He handed her the baby, who had already begun to fuss at the scent and sight of his mother.

            “That’s good.”

            “Mmm hmmm,” she agreed, lifting her uniform top and undoing the nursing flap on the bra.

            She didn’t cover herself and the baby with the haori. Yukio’s latest thing was to try to push and kick it away when she draped it over his head. It was as if he wanted to be able to see her face while he nursed and no longer liked being covered up. Now she took the sleeve of the haori and draped it over the top of her breast, hiding her skin from view, but leaving Yukio uncovered. The compromise kept Yukio happy, but didn’t leave her feeling exposed.

            “Your last test is this afternoon?” Inuyasha asked, sitting close and watching her feed Yukio the way he always did.

            “Yes. History. Then I’m done.”

            He nodded, an odd gleam in his eyes. “Then we can go back, can’t we Kagome? We can go back tonight?”

            She sighed. So much for a couple of quiet days in her time.  _‘Well, I suppose I really can’t complain. He did give me five days here without too much fuss, and he’s done a wonderful job of looking after Yukio.’_

            “We need to go shopping for supplies, but yes, after that we can go.”

            “Good. I want to get the pup back home. The air here is no good for him, and you’re almost out of liver.”

 _‘And you want to get back to a place where you don’t have to hide what you are,’_  she mentally added, noting the ball cap he wore to cover his ears. Yukio didn’t have a hat on, but no one ever saw him because Inuyasha kept him in his baby sling and moved too fast for normal humans to see.

            “I’m eager to get back too. I miss Shippou, Sango and the others. But I want to come back for my birthday.”

            “When is it?”

            “Next month. I’m sure my friends will want to throw a party for me because I’ll be seventeen.”

            He nodded and she saw him make a mental note of it. “Are these the friends I met that time?”

            “Yeah, Ayumi, Eri and Yuka.”

            “And that guy… that Houjou guy. Him too?” he asked, his voice already holding a hint of jealousy.

            “Probably. But I’ve told you before, I’m not interested in Houjou.”

            Yukio wanted to be switched so she undid the nursing flap on the other side and moved him over, draping the haori sleeve across her breast.

            “Is he a threat to the pup? Will he try to hurt Yukio because I’m the rival male?”

            She blinked at him, stunned. “No, not at all. We don’t do things like that, Inuyasha.”

            He gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

            “You wanted a week?” he asked.

            She was shocked that he remembered. “Y… Yes. If I may.”

            He frowned. “I’ll give you three days.”

            She frowned back. “Five.”

            “Four and not a day more!” he countered with finality.

            “Okay, four, but you have to come with me to help take care of Yukio.”

            He nodded. “Of course.”

            “He’s starting to teethe. I can feel the bumps on his gums,” she commented.

            Inuyasha agreed. “His fangs will come in first.”

            She nodded, looking down at the baby who was looking up at her, big golden eyes staring at her as he fed. She smiled at him and stroked his puppy ears.

            “My little big dog,” she cooed to him.

            “Feh!” Inuyasha snorted, but then his head whipped around.

            “What is it?” she asked, seeing the look on his face and getting worried.

            “Someone’s here,” he replied.

            As if on cue, a female figure came into view, walking carefully and obviously looking for something. The newcomer turned and saw them sitting against the utility room exterior wall. Kagome recognized the woman and gasped, her blood turning cold. Inuyasha, reacting to her obvious upset, began to growl warningly as she shrank back behind him, trying to shield Yukio from view.

            “Higurashi Kagome,” the doctor from Monday said coldly, coming towards them. “I came here to your school to make sure you were doing as ordered. I see that you are not. I will…”

            She was cut off by an extremely pissed off hanyou grabbing her by the throat. He’d moved so fast that he’d been nothing more than a growling red blur before his inhumanly strong hand was wrapped around her neck.

            “You!” he snarled. “I know your stinking scent. You’re that bitch doctor!”

            The cap had become dislodged in his leap to grab her, revealing his ears- ears that were now pinned flat against his head in fury. The older woman saw the dog ears sticking out from the mass of silver hair and her eyes opened wide, even as her face began to turn blue from lack of air. She scratched weakly at Inuyasha’s hand and wrist, but her struggles were useless.

            “You’re the one who made Kagome cry! You’re the one who hurt her and made her feel dirty for feeding a motherless pup. Just who the hell do you think you are, bitch?”

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome begged, standing and tentatively making her way over to where he was strangling the woman. Yukio had stopped nursing when he heard and felt the upset, and was now letting out little whimpers of distress that could easily graduate into his trademark wails if things didn’t calm down soon.

             _‘Please. If he starts howling, the whole school will come running up here and I’ll be done for.’_

            “Inuyasha, please let her go.”

            The enraged hanyou just continued to growl and lifted the kicking woman off the ground by her neck.

            “Inuyasha, don’t make me subdue you. Let her go right now!” she cried desperately.

            With a final snarl, he dropped the doctor unceremoniously to the rooftop. She crumpled in a sprawling heap, her hands going to her throat as she gasped for air. He stood over her, a menacing look on his face, and kept placing himself in her line of sight every time she tried to look at Kagome and the baby.

            “What… what are you?” she rasped, she staring up at him, her throat raw.

            “Your worst nightmare, bitch.”

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome scolded gently, coming to stand beside him. She held Yukio close, but he was thankfully calming down now that she was relaxing.

            There was an eerie silence. Kagome looked down at the terrified and shocked doctor, knowing full well that the older woman could see that Yukio had dog ears, and a strange calm came over her. Inuyasha stood at her shoulder and together they presented a unified front. A gentle wind blew through their hair as they stared the doctor down and time seemed to stop for a long, breathless moment.

            Kagome knew she should be stunned, horrified and worried sick at the repercussions of what was happening, but she felt oddly detached from it. What was done was done and there was nothing she could do about it. Inuyasha was there and she knew he would protect her, and Yukio was safe in her arms. The doctor was helpless to do anything against them, and the knowledge brought her peace. She raised her chin proudly and lifted her son closer to her chest, allowing him to turn and look down at the woman as well. The doctor’s eyes opened even wider when she saw the infant’s golden eyes.

            Inuyasha snarled and stepped forward, blocking the doctor’s view again. She skittered backwards on her hands and rear end, her feet scraping along the rough rooftop.

            “Quit staring, bitch. You don’t have the right to even look at her, you worthless hag. If I had my way, I’d rip you to shreds for what you did to Kagome, and it is by her grace and kindness alone that I let you live,” he seethed, sounding more like his half-brother than he ever had.

            The woman stammered incoherently, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

            “But I warn you. If you ever come anywhere near Kagome or my son ever again I. Will.  ** _Kill!_**  You! Now get the fuck out of my sight, bitch, before I  ** _really_**  lose my temper!” he ordered, backing up his threat with a vicious snarl as he drew Tessaiga and brandished it in front of him.

            With a choked scream, the woman scrambled to her feet and ran, practically pissing herself to get away. Inuyasha gave a satisfied grunt and sheathed Tessaiga as she nearly threw herself down the exit stairs, the rooftop door banging heavily behind her.

            “I should ‘s’ you a dozen times for the language you just used,” Kagome said as she rejoined him.

            He tensed, waiting for the threatened punishment, but it never came. Instead, her head pressed softly to his shoulder and she sighed.

            “But I’m not going to because I understand completely.”

            “Feh,” he replied, putting a protective arm around her.

            Yukio burbled and yipped.

            “I need to change him and get back downstairs,” she whispered, reluctantly pulling away.

            He gave a short nod and walked with her back to the wall of the utility room, pulling a fresh diaper and a cleaning cloth from inside the chest of his kimono as she handed him his haori. They were back to the cloth ones because the ‘modern’ disposable diapers gave Yukio a rash. Kagome changed him and wrapped the dirty diaper up in a plastic bag for later cleaning. Then she kissed Yukio’s cheek sweetly and put him in his baby sling.

            “I’ll see you when I get home,” she said as Inuyasha took the sling and put it around him, securing Yukio against his chest.

            “Yeah. Come back straight away. No wasting time.”

            She rolled her eyes, but agreed. “Yes, yes. I will.”

            “We’re going back tonight. I want to leave as soon as possible.”

            “I know. I know.”

            She moved to leave but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see him looking at her intently.

            “Be safe, Kagome. Do well on your test.”

            She gave him a tender smile and a nuzzle. “I will. Thank you.”

            He snorted, but his eyes were kind.

            With a final soft look, she headed back down the stairs, leaving Inuyasha behind. Little did she know that he didn’t return to the shrine right away. As he hopped off the roof he caught a familiar disgusting scent and tracked it to the doctor’s little white ‘auuu-tooo-mobile.’ With a wicked grin, he cracked his knuckles and left four deep gashes down the length of her hood and roof. No sense in making a serious threat if you couldn’t back it up with a little show of power.

 

********

 

            Kagome did as promised and returned home as soon as school was over, ignoring her friends’ invitation to join them for hamburgers. She knew that Inuyasha would be furious if she was late, and she didn’t want to do anything to anger him. Besides, it had been more than four hours and she knew Yukio would be getting hungry soon.

            Inuyasha was waiting for her at the top of the shrine stairs when she arrived. He was holding Yukio and the baby gurgled at her when she came into view. Kissing his little cheek, she took him from his father and he snuggled into her shoulder happily as she and Inuyasha walked side by side to the house.

            “How’d the test go?” he asked.

            “Great. It was the best of the three,” she replied brightly. “I’m just glad they’re all over. I have my assignments for the next two weeks and no more tests until next month.”

            “Then we can go?” he questioned eagerly.

            “We need to go shopping first,” she reminded him as they entered the house.

            “Shopping.” He spat the word like it was a curse.

            “Tadaima,” she called out and heard an answering “Okaeri” from her mother and grandfather in the kitchen.

            “If we don’t go shopping we won’t have any ramen or potato chips.”

            He sighed. “There is that,” he admitted. “Alright. We will go shopping right away.”

            “Just let me feed and change Yukio, then I’ll leave him with Mama,” she said, going up to her room.

            “Leave him?”

            “He’ll be fine. He always naps after he eats. I’ll wrap him in his blanket and sling and he won’t even know we’re gone.”

            Inuyasha snorted. “That’s what you think. He’ll start bawling the moment we’re both out of scent range.”

            “You think?”

            “You’re joking, right?”

            She sat on her bed and he gave her his haori as he sat next to her. It was a ritual for them now, and she was gathering up her courage to ask him what it was about her nursing Yukio that fascinated him so much and why he insisted that she wear his haori when she fed the baby.

            “Well, he has to get used to other people taking care of him,” she said, continuing the conversation as she went through the motions of feeding her son.

            Yukio didn’t care if his adoptive parents talked while he ate. He had all he wanted in his mouth and couldn’t care less what the adults did so long as it didn’t interrupt his food-time.

            “Why?” Inuyasha asked.

            “Because sometimes he’s going to get left behind and he’ll have to be okay with that.”

            “We are never leaving this pup behind,” he replied sternly.

            Kagome blinked at him. “Not even when he’s older and harder to carry? Do you really want a toddler on a shard hunt with us?”

            “It’s too dangerous to leave him with anyone. Until he can defend himself he’s a target. We’ll just teach him to be quiet and not get in the way, but we’re taking him with us everywhere we go.”

            Kagome sighed and reluctantly agreed. “Okay. We’ll put him in his sling and I’ll put a hat on his head, and we’ll take him with us.”

            “Good.”

            She changed Yukio when he finished eating and put him back in his sling, then she put the sling on and carried him next to her chest as she and Inuyasha went grocery shopping.

            Mama had dinner ready for them when they returned and by the time they had eaten, packed up their supplies and made their way through the well, several hours had passed and it was already nightfall in the Sengoku Jidai. Inuyasha carried the supplies and her bag out of the well for her as she climbed up.

            “Ahhhh!” she breathed, stretching in the clean, clear night air. “It feels so good.”

            Beside her, Inuyasha grunted in agreement and she could see all the lines of tension and stress that always marred his body and face whenever they were in her time slowly fade away.

            ‘ _Being there is really hard on him,’_ she admitted to herself, looking up at the sea of stars.

            “Let’s go, Kagome,” he said, hefting the bags over his shoulder.

            But she wasn’t ready to go down to the village just yet. She wanted to stay in this peaceful forested place and be alone with Inuyasha for a little while before they had to join the others.

            “Wait, Inuyasha,” she said softly.

            “Eh?” he replied, turning to look at her.

            “Let’s just stay here for a little bit, ne?”

            He blinked at her. “Why?”

            “Because… Because it’s a beautiful night and I just want to relax for a few minutes and look at the stars before we have to go. We can sit here and I can feed Yukio and we can both recover from our trip.”

            “Keh,” he scoffed. “I’m fine.”

            She gave him a tender smile and she saw him blush at the attention. “I know. But humor me, okay.”      

            “Alright, but not for too long. I want to find out if there have been any shard rumors while we’ve been gone,” he agreed.

            She gave him another smile and picked a tree on the edge of the clearing to sit under.

            “I know, but we can’t go anywhere until morning anyway so a few more minutes won’t matter, right?”

            “I guess,” he admitted, sitting down next to her.

            Yukio was fussing in his sling, hungry and aware that something about his environment had changed again. Kagome drew him out of the carrier and changed his dirty diaper. Then she held him in her lap, humming softly to him as she began to lift up her shirt.

            “Here,” Inuyasha interrupted, holding out the haori.

            She looked at him, her eyes soft, and offered her shoulder. He leaned over and lightly draped the red garment across her shoulders, drawing the fabric to drape down over her arms. She pushed it back and placed the huge sleeve across her chest as she brought Yukio up to the nipple. She sighed as he began to nurse, and let herself relax.

            There was something deep and easing about sitting there with Inuyasha. When they were alone together, his gentler, sweeter side came out and she treasured those moments. He could be tender and loving when he wanted to be, and she knew a man of deep feeling lurked under his gruff exterior. There were many times she wished he would show it more, and not be so afraid to appear ‘weak,’ but she knew many years of pain, loneliness and hardship had shaped him into the man he had become, and she could not expect him to suddenly cast off the defense mechanisms that had kept him alive for so long.

            Still, there were times like these when she was alone with him, and he was watching her with a soft look in his eyes, that she knew her love was healing him and easing his lonely heart. They were times when she could forget about the Shikon no Tama, and her double life, and Kikyou, and just be Kagome, the one who loves Inuyasha with all her heart and soul (well, most of it at the very least.) Times when she felt closer to him than to anyone else, and she entertained dreams of a happy future with him by her side and their own children at their feet.

            Sometimes she thought he had those dreams too. She could see it in his eyes when he thought she couldn’t see: the hope, the longing. Often she’d wanted to reach out and touch him, to tell him that, yes, she felt the same way, and he didn’t have to be afraid that she would reject him, but fear that  ** _he_**  would reject  ** _her_** , fear that in the end she would lose him to Kikyou always stopped her.

            But tonight, under the stars and trees and gently blowing breeze, there was no Kikyou. There was only her and Inuyasha and Yukio, and they were the only three people that mattered in the world for those precious moments.

            “So many stars,” she whispered. “You never see this many in my time unless you’re out in the country, and even then I don’t think you can see as many as I do here.”

            “Keh. It’s all your lights and eeellll-eectrriiisss-iiteee. They drown out the stars.”

            “Your eyes can see perfectly in the dark, can’t they,” she commented.

            “Mostly. I can’t see in total darkness, but I can see well at night. Much better than your human eyes,” he jibed lightly.

            She smiled at him as she switched Yukio. “It’s a good thing I’m with you then. You’ll make sure I don’t stumble or walk into anything.”

            “Keh!”

            “What? Does that mean you won’t?”

            He snorted. “If it comes to that, I’ll just carry you.”

            “You always carry me,” she whispered. “In more ways than one.”

            He looked at her and she could see his blush even in the moonlight. “Feh, you need carrying, wench. With that weak, human body of yours,” he scoffed, covering his embarrassment.

            She didn’t take offense. Nothing, but nothing was going to ruin this night and this perfect time for her. Not even Inuyasha himself.

            “I’m better though, aren’t I? I’m not as weak as I was two years ago.”

            He sighed and lowered his head, his ears drooping. If she didn’t take his bait and argue with him, he never kept it up for long.

            “No. You’re strong. Much stronger than I ever thought you’d be, and you’ve got guts. You never back down from a fight,” he admitted.

            “I have a good role model,” she teased.

            “Feh. I’m no one’s role model.”

            “You will be to Yukio.”

            “He should expect to be disappointed.”

            “I don’t think so. I think you’ll always be there for him, just as you’ve always been there for me.”

            “Not always...” he murmured softly.

            “That doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”

            He was quiet, having no answer, and she looked at the nursing infant. She could tell he was almost finished. Soon Inuyasha would insist they go down to the village, but she didn’t want their quiet time to end just yet. Besides, she was working up enough courage to ask him about the haori and her nursing. It seemed that he might be in the mood to talk about it if she could ask the right questions.

            “Inuyasha...”

            “Hmmm?”

            “May I ask you a question?”

            He bristled a little and her heart fell. “What kind of question?”

            “A serious one.”

            “About what?”

            “About Yukio, and me, and your haori.”

            “What about it? You need covering otherwise anyone can see your parts,” he replied defensively.

            “That’s not what I meant. You want me to wear your haori when I feed him. Even when I have something else I can use, you always give it to me. And you always watch me feed him. There’s something there, I can feel it. You get this look in your eyes... Will you tell me about it?”

            He sneered and looked away. “Bah. What are you going on about, woman? There’s nothing to tell.”

            It wasn’t the answer she was looking for, and for some reason she felt horribly disappointed. She had hoped the feeling of closeness and love that she was feeling for him would be reciprocated tonight, and they would talk of his past and of their future. His cutting dismissal dashed all her wishful expectations.

            “I’m sorry,” she whispered faintly, unable to hide the sadness in her voice. “Forget I said anything.”

            “Huh? What’s your problem tonight?”

            She closed her eyes and held her temper. He was really trying to bait her into a fight, and it was making her more sad than angry.

_‘After all this time, and all we’ve been through, he still won’t share with me...’_

            “Oi! Kagome.”

            She shook her head, burping Yukio because he was finished, and pulling her shirt back down.

            “It’s nothing.”

            “It’s not nothing. I know you well enough to know that your ‘nothing’ means something,” he countered gruffly.

            She sighed, patting her son and soothing him as she put him back into his carrier. He was already drifting off to sleep.

            “I don’t want to fight with you, Inuyasha. I just want to sit here with you and feel some peace. I was hoping you would share with me, but if you don’t want to, that’s okay. I won’t try to make you.”

            “Fine! Be that way!” he snapped.

            She didn’t answer, just looked down at the sleeping infant, and smiled wistfully. Then she drew the edges of Inuyasha’s haori around her to ward off the night chill. It was warm, and wearing it was comforting to her. After all, giving her his haori had been the first gesture of affection he had ever offered her, and the gift had saved her life more than once.

            “It’s because I want to be part of it,” he said suddenly after a long silence.

            She blinked at him, surprised, but remained silent. He looked at her with guilty eyes, his hands in his lap and his face contrite.

            “If you’re wearing my fire-rat, I know you and the pup are protected. That’s important to me,” he went on.

            “Inuyasha...” she breathed softly, her heart melting.

            “And I want to feel like I’m helping you in some way. That I can do something worthwhile for you and the pup: protect you, provide you with meat and liver. I want to know that I can give you something you need.”

            She gave him a tender, grateful look, and reached out to hold his hand.

            “Thank you. Thank you for sharing that with me.”

            He shook his head, accepting her hand in his and lightly grasping it. “No. I should be thanking you for what you did.”

            “Me?” she replied, blushing, but inwardly smiling at his soft look, his tenderness. “I didn’t do anything...”

            “And that’s what makes it more beautiful. You don’t see what you did as anything special when the rest of us are in awe of you. You asked me why I watch you when you feed him. I watch because I still can’t believe it. I have to see it so I know it’s real.”

            “Why?”

            He let her hand go and looked away, his head down and his eyes dark with deep emotion. She waited, holding her breath, because she could feel the change in him and knew that he was going to talk, really  ** _talk_**  to her.

_‘Inuyasha. Will you? Will you really...’_

“Because no one fed me,” he said quietly.

“What?” she repeated, uncertain that she had heard him correctly.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking again.

“No one fed me. When my mother died, no one fed me. No one cared if I lived or died. My mother was a noblewoman but no one gave a damn that I was her son. I was just a filthy half-breed nobody wanted. I had no idea how to feed or take care of myself. I scrounged food from the kitchens and the garbage, eating whatever I could get my hands on. They’d chase me out when they caught me and beat me for ‘stealing.’ I was filthy and starving, but nobody cared.”

_‘Oh my God. Oh, Inuyasha...’_

“Eventually my brother came for me and he took me with him, but by then I was in pretty bad shape and he was furious at my mother’s relatives. I think he even killed a couple of them. But even he didn’t feed me or bring me food. He told me the extent of his obligation ended with his protection, and if I wanted to eat I had to find food for myself. Sometimes, though, when I was really hungry, he’d toss me a rabbit- raw. Most of what I learned about how to feed myself, I had to learn on my own because he never taught me. My first kills were messy and bloody, but it was either that or go hungry, and if I ate something that made me sick, I’d be punished.”

He paused and looked at her to see if she would say anything, but she was just staring at him in shock.

_‘Inuyasha...’_

He went on, his voice thick with old pain.

“There was an inu-youkai bitch with three pups on my brother’s lands. I watched her for weeks, hoping that if she got used to my scent and I learned her ways, that maybe she’d accept me. That’s how I know so much about pups. But she rejected me when I approached her, and my brother scruffed and cuffed me severely for even trying. I was sore for days from his beating, and I’ll never forget what he told me that night. He said no youkai would want me because I was a lowly hanyou, tainted with human blood, and the dirt beneath a true youkai’s feet. No one would ever accept me. That was when I understood my mother’s tears that one time. Why she had cried for me. She had known what my life would be like, and she had wept for my sake.”

He stopped and shook his head as if getting rid of a hurtful memory. Kagome waited, her heart pounding and breaking for this poor soul who had suffered so much.

_‘Inuyasha, my beautiful Inuyasha. You didn’t deserve any of it...’_

She wanted to throw herself into his arms and hold him until the pain went away, but the words stuck in her throat, and he was speaking again before she could swallow them.

“So you have no idea how it affects me to see you with Yukio, to see you feeding him. To me, it’s a miracle. I don’t care that it’s normal. I don’t know anything about hor-oh-moans or fizz-ee-olo-gee and women. I don’t care if any woman he’d nursed from would have made milk for him. They wouldn’t have. None of them would have even tried. They would have let him starve to death before any one of them would have given him a breast.

“You are the only woman I know who would allow an orphan half-breed to nurse from her dry breast just because she wanted to comfort him when he was missing his dead mother. You are the only one I know who would have cared that much, loved that much, given that much. To take a hanyou pup who was not your own and nurse him, to feed him from your own body…”

He raised his eyes and looked at her still staring at him with watery eyes. His own eyes were wide and filled with adoration, awe and love.

 “So it doesn’t matter to me if it’s normal and would have happened with anyone. For me it’s amazing and unbelievable. That’s why the third meaning of ‘Yukio’ is so fitting to me, why it means so much to me.  To me… to me, I see you with him and I see God.”

Finished and embarrassed by his own runaway mouth, he looked away, concentrating on his hands, his claws.

“Inuyasha…” she breathed, and he cast a glance up.

Tears were streaming down her face, her cheeks wet with them, and he knew she was crying for him. Unable to stand it, he looked away again, and almost stood to leave.

“Don’t. Please,” Kagome begged, one hand on his shoulder.

He nodded, still not looking at her and sat back down. A moment later a sleeping Yukio was placed in his lap. He touched the pup’s hair with one finger, tracing the side of his little face. He smelled of pup and milk and Kagome.

There was a rustle of cloth and the sound of something falling to the ground, then Kagome’s hands were on his head and shoulders, turning him to look at her. She’d taken off his haori and her shirt and bra, and her bare breasts were exposed to him, the nipples reddened from Yukio’s earlier nursing. He blinked at her, confused and unsure of what she was doing.

“Kagome?”

She shook her head, her eyes still brimmed with tears, put one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his cheek, and pulled him towards her. Gently, she brought him to her breast and pressed his mouth to her nipple.

“I would have fed you. I would have…”

He let out a choked sound that might have been a whimper, and her hands tangled themselves in his hair, urging him to take what she offered. Opening his mouth, he let his lips surround the toughened nipple and began to lightly suck.

Kagome felt him start to nurse and put her arms around him as she let more tears fall down her cheeks. His sucking was so different from the infant’s, his mouth gentle and his tongue softly licking. She knew she had only a very little bit of milk left, no more than a mouthful at the very most after Yukio finished nursing, but she didn’t need milk to feed him. The very act of bringing him to her breast and letting him suckle was enough. Right now, she was feeding the abandoned orphan whom no one wanted, the little boy Inuyasha who had lost his mother and never known his father; the lonely, bereft child that still lived inside the adult hanyou and begged to be comforted.

Later she would nourish the man he had become, using a much different part of her body. With Yukio sleeping soundly and tucked in his sling hung from a nearby tree branch, they would kiss passionately for several minutes, and finally couple on the moss-covered ground. For years afterward she would remember and cherish that first time, not minding that it was awkward, and hurt a little, or that he had finished too soon. She would always remember how he’d held her wrists tightly as if he was afraid she would run away, then how he had clutched her to him with both arms wrapped around her as he moved desperately inside her. The look of stricken awe on his face when he first mounted and breached her was burned into her mind; how it changed to shocked bliss as he slid all the way in, and the tears that rolled, unbidden and unnoticed, down his cheeks as they made love- tears of old pain, of joy and of healing.

She would remember his face after his first climax, the way his eyes rolled back and his jaw dropped open, and how he had cried out her name in the final moment. Then the look of shocked embarrassment when he learned that women could climax too, and that she had been left unsatisfied. She’d asked him to help her pleasure herself and he did her one better, insisting that her pleasure was his responsibility. He’d brought his mouth to the juncture of her thighs, and she discovered that his tongue was the most amazing thing in the world.

Their second time followed shortly after her first climax, when she was still wet and open from the first, and relaxed from her orgasm. He mounted again, this time a little bolder and more self-assured, and never took his eyes off of her for a single second. Even when she closed her eyes in rapture and arched her back, when she opened them again he was still watching her intently. It was as if he didn’t want to miss a moment, especially the moment of her climax, when her body jerked and she gasped and her passage clenched around him like a rippling vice that milked his own orgasm from him. Then he threw his head back and howled his triumph and victory as he emptied his seed into her with self-satisfied pride.

And little Yukio slept soundly though it all as if instinctively knowing that his adoptive parents were busy in the throes of passion and pleasure, that all was well, and that he was perfectly safe from harm. When they were finished, they retrieved him from his bough-cradle, and cuddled him between them as they snuggled together at the base of the tree. He rolled towards their warmth, never waking, and tucked his tiny fists under Kagome’s breast as they fell asleep still holding each other.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter has more adult situations. I am also issuing a snort warning. Do not read this chapter while consuming beverages. If you snort the stuff all over your keyboard, I won’t be held responsible. You have been warned. *grin*

Chapter Fifteen

 

            Kagome was awakened from her peaceful sleep by Yukio getting his own midnight snack. She was disoriented at first, unsure of exactly where she was or why she was half naked under Inuyasha’s haori, but then the memory of what had occurred came rushing back to her and she flushed with heat.

 _‘Inuyasha and I, we… Oh my God, we actually… I’m not a virgin anymore.’_  She smiled to herself.  _‘And neither is he.’_

            Somehow that knowledge brought her great pride and she snuggled further against the warm body that was wrapped around her from behind. The body shifted and moved, one hand coming to cup her under one breast and pull her closer. The haori slid to the ground while a set of soft lips planted butterfly kisses all along her neck from her ear to her shoulder. She moaned at the attention, then gasped when a set of sharp teeth bit her very, very gently where her neck met her shoulder and a tongue laved the spot. Hot breath tickled her ear and she shivered, but not with cold.

            “Kagome…” Inuyasha’s husky voice murmured.

            “Inuyasha,” she replied.

            The hand on the side where Yukio was nursing slid down to stroke her thigh, the clawed fingers sliding under her skirt to touch her bare skin. Ironically, the touch didn’t have the effect her new lover thought it would have. Instead it served to remind her that her panties were flung somewhere in the clearing and she had no idea where. The thought made her giggle and Inuyasha froze.

            “Kagome?” he whispered tentatively.

            She craned her head to look at him, taking in his worried, uncertain eyes, and gave him a sweet smile.

            “I was just wondering where you threw my underwear.”

            “The little white thing?”

            “Yeah.”

            He cast about with his eyes and nose, locating the object. “It’s over there. Do you want me to get it?”

            Kagome wasn’t imagining things when she thought his voice sounded disappointed, and she giggled again, shaking her head.

            “No,” she replied, pressing against him in a way she hoped would tell him that all was well between them. “I just wanted to know where they were.”

            The hand started stroking again and his lips kissed her shoulder.

            “Okay.”

            She sighed and let him continue his attentions. As his hand caressed her thigh, lightly scratching with his claws- not hard enough to leave marks, but enough to make her skin tingle- he trailed kisses down her shoulder. He turned her body and his own enough so that he could bring his head around to her front, and began kissing the swell of her breast. When his lips closed over the hard nipple she gasped and grew very still.

            She was left with a strange decision. On one hand, she really liked what he was doing and didn’t particularly want him to stop.  ** _However_** , the whole thing was surreal. Yukio was actively nursing, and the thought of Inuyasha suckling at the other breast was oddly disconcerting on a number of levels. The first, of course, being that they were engaging in that type of intimacy with the baby  ** _right there_**. The second being that she felt protective towards her infant’s food. The milk was ultimately Yukio’s and no one else could lay claim to it. Her dilemma was that she didn’t want to refuse Inuyasha and make him feel rejected, but at the same time she didn’t want him drinking Yukio’s milk either. That and the fact that it was one thing to make love when the baby was sleeping in his sling, but making love while he was awake and  ** _right there_**  was something she was definitely not comfortable with. 

            In the end though, she didn’t have to make the choice at all, because Inuyasha already knew all of that, and he wouldn’t take milk from his son’s mouth either. He sucked hard enough on the nipple to draw milk once, taking the smallest of mouthfuls, then relaxed his lips and let his tongue just lick gently. Then he drew back and rested his cheek against the soft mound of the breast, nuzzling into her flesh lovingly.

            She relaxed when he released her and mentally berated herself for doubting him for even a moment. Letting out a sigh, she lifted her free hand and threaded her fingers into his long hair, rubbing the part of his scalp that she could reach in their awkward position. He sighed in answer and drew her closer to him with arms that wrapped around her waist, and not for the first time she marveled at hanyou flexibility, because she knew that he was twisted around but it didn’t seem to bother him.

            They stayed that way in tender silence for a brief moment until a noise from Yukio caught their attention. Kagome had enough time to realize it was his little growl before he kicked, whacking Inuyasha right on the chin.

            “Ow! Brat!” Inuyasha yelled, reeling back and glaring at the baby. “What the hell did you do that for, whelp!”

            Two big golden eyes glared back and another warning growl rumbled out of the tiny chest. Kagome began to laugh.

            “He’s mad! He’s really, really mad!” she exclaimed, still giggling.

            “Oi! It’s not funny!” Inuyasha complained, rubbing his sore chin. “Brat can kick.”

            “He thought you were taking his milk,” she snickered, then bounced Yukio lightly. “Oh you’re getting feisty. First you bite that smelly woman and now you kick your father. You’d better be careful, Otou won’t tolerate that.”

            “Damn straight, whelp,” Inuyasha growled warningly. “You can’t boss me around.”

            Yukio growled back, but Inuyasha silenced him with a hand on the back of his neck. The adult hanyou didn’t even have to squeeze before the pup submitted, going limp with a whine.

            “Inuyasha, that’s enough,” Kagome said seriously when he didn’t take his hand off Yukio’s neck right away.

            Inuyasha obeyed, releasing the contrite pup who promptly began to sniffle and cry. Kagome shushed him and pacified him with the other breast. His whimpers died as soon as he had what he wanted.

            “Don’t be rough with him,” she scolded.

            “You can’t let him dominate you,” Inuyasha told her firmly.

            “He’s just a baby. He doesn’t understand.”

            “He’s a hanyou pup, Kagome. If he knows enough to growl and defend his milk, he’s old enough to learn his place. Don’t question me on this.”

            She gave him a disapproving look that softened when she saw him rub his chin again.

            “You’re just angry because he kicked you,” she teased lightly.

            “Well, there’s nothing wrong with his legs for certain.”

            She turned around to face him and they sat across from each other, both still in various stages of undress. Inuyasha was as bare-chested as she, but he’d put his hakama back on. He was staring at her hungrily, then his face flushed and he looked away shyly.

            His embarrassment was endearing and she smiled. Leaning over, she kissed the the sore spot on his chin tenderly.

            “Better now?” she asked softly.

            He touched the place where her lips had just been and looked at her longingly. She responded by kissing him gently, and his hands came up to cup her face as he kissed her back, his tongue sliding across her lips.

            “Kagome...”

            “Inuyasha,” she replied, stroking his arm with her free hand, reassuring him and reconnecting with him. He had to be feeling a little vulnerable and uncertain after what had passed between them, and she wanted to be sure that he knew everything was okay. “Thank you for last night.”

            He pulled back, gasping in shock and stared at her wide-eyed, his upper teeth biting his lower lip. Then he whipped away and squatted a few inches away from her, his fists planted on the ground as he fought to hold in his emotions.

            “Inuyasha?” she questioned, unhappy that what she thought would be reassurance had the exact opposite affect.

            “You’re thanking me?” he whispered faintly in disbelief, his head bowed.

            “Yes. Shouldn’t I? You shared something precious with me last night, and I’m very grateful,” she explained gently, not understanding why he was upset.

            “ ** _You’re_**  grateful?” he gasped, giving her another wide-eyed glance before he looked away. “It was your first time too Kagome and you gave it to me.  ** _I’m_**  the one who should be grateful. I’m the one who was given something precious. You could have had anyone: Houjou, Akitoki, even that stinking wolf, but it was me you chose. I’m the one who should be licking your feet.”

            “Inuyasha...”

            “Thank you, Kagome.”

            “Inuyasha.”

            He looked at her, his eyes uncertain.

            “You’re too far away.”

            He gave her a shy, relieved smile and moved close again, taking her into his arms from the side and nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck.

            “Oi, whelp, don’t you dare kick me again,” he warned Yukio.

            Kagome giggled. “He won’t. He’s almost finished anyway.”

            “You can tell?”

            “Yeah.”

            “So he’ll be done soon?”

            She nodded, rubbing her chin against the top of his head. “Mm hmm.”

            “Then he’ll sleep, right? It’s still dark,” he asked, his voice slightly hopeful.

            “He should.”

            “Okay.”

            They stayed quiet until Yukio was finished eating, then Kagome burped him and changed his diaper. A few minutes later, he was in his sling and settling down. Inuyasha took him and hung the strap from the bough he’d been on before. She waited for him to come back to her, her hands folded neatly in her lap, as proper as someone could be when she was topless and not wearing any underwear.

            “Kagome,” he breathed, returning to her side and sitting next to her.

            “Inuyasha,” she answered calmly, watching his face as he tried to read her, his eyes searching hers.       

            She could tell he wanted to make love again, but he was being so shy about it- like he was afraid to ask. His uncertainty was adorable and warmed her heart. She held in her chuckle because she didn’t want him to think she was laughing at him, and waited for him to make the first move.

            It came in the form of a soft kiss which she returned eagerly. Then he let out a long sigh and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

            “Kagome... Is it alright, Kagome?”

            “Yes,” she answered and kissed him with a little more force than he’d kissed her, telling him in words and deeds that she wanted him.

            “If we do this again, we won’t get back to the village before dawn,” he said when their lips parted.

            “That’s okay. I’d rather stay here and be alone with you anyway. I like having you to myself.”

            He gave a short laugh and hugged her tight.

            “I don’t like sharing you with anyone else either.”

            “I know.”

            With a gentle push he laid her down, spreading his haori underneath her as a barrier against the cold ground. She went willingly, letting him lead, knowing he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. He seemed determined to take his time, removing her skirt and kissing her skin sweetly, mapping her body with his lips and hands. In moments he had her moaning with pleasure and threading her fingers into his hair to rub his ears, then he moved his head between her legs and she once again thanked anyone who was listening for his very talented tongue.

            In the aftermath of her climax, he urged her onto her stomach and she realized that he wanted to take her from behind, obviously in the inu-youkai way. She obliged him, and rose to her hands and knees, bracing herself for his next move. It came swiftly and a little more roughly than she would have liked, but she bore it without complaint.

            He draped himself across her back, lightly nipping at the base of her neck as his hands reached under her to knead her breasts until they slid down to grasp her hips and pull her onto him in time with his rhythm. She gasped, the position being deeper than the one they had used before and her newly opened body protested the invasion, but she didn’t want to tell him to stop. Instead she bit her lip and tried to concentrate on the memory of his face during their first time, and the feelings it brought to her, to help her ignore the soreness and discomfort: Inuyasha’s eyes misty with tears and love. Inuyasha’s mouth opened in a silent cry. Inuyasha gasping her name as he climaxed…

_‘I love you. I’ll do anything for you. You’re beautiful, my hanyou. I adore you.’_

            He stopped and she came back to herself, wondering if he’d finished. Slowly, he pulled out of her and she turned her head to look over her shoulder. He was kneeling on his haunches behind her and his head was down, his ears drooped. He was stroking himself with one hand as well but it looked like he was going soft.

            “Inuyasha?” she questioned.  _‘What’s wrong?’_  she wanted to ask. Was she failing to please him?

            “I don’t like it that way,” he answered breathlessly and he sounded like he was in pain. “I can’t see your face. And... and you’re not responding the way you did before. Kagome, was I hurting you?”

            She turned around and sat down on his haori, facing him. She wasn’t sure how to answer. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she didn’t want to lie either, then she realized that he’d know if she was lying and that he’d already figured out that something wasn’t right. The very fact that he’d stopped was a testament to his control and his sensitivity to her reactions.

            “A little,” she admitted as gently as she could. “It was a little deep and I’m still a little sore.”

            “Forgive me,” he whispered brokenly.

            She moved close and touched his arm reassuringly. “It’s okay, really. We’re both really new at this.”

            He shook his head. “I don’t ever want to hurt you. Not ever. I’m sorry.”

            He sounded devastated and her heart broke. Leaning over, she kissed his face and stroked his chest lovingly.

            “Shhh. It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean it. I forgive you.”

            “Kagome...”

            “I forgive you, Inuyasha,” she told him, then smiled a wicked smile. She thought she knew a way to make sure he knew she didn’t blame him, or hold anything against him.

            Braver than she ever thought she could be, Kagome crouched over his lap and took him into her mouth.

            Her friend Yuka, who had a boyfriend, once compared going down on a boy to eating a popsicle. At the time, she’d accepted the analogy because she had no personal experience to go on. Now she realized that Yuka was dead wrong. It wasn’t anything at all like eating a popsicle. For one thing, popsicles were very cold, not almost hot enough to burn your mouth. And they got smaller when you licked and sucked them, not bigger. And they tasted sweet and fruity, not salty and bitter. Then again, they also didn’t scream your name and grab your hair, and altogether make you feel powerful and wanted and loved and beautiful. Popsicles just didn’t have that strong an effect on her.

            Inuyasha howling, writhing and ripping up the earth next to him with his claws so he wouldn’t pull her hair out by its roots, now  ** _that_**  had an effect on her.

            He’d fallen to his back, gasping, moaning, and crying as she worked him, but she knew she wasn’t doing it right. Ayumi had once found a stash of her parents’ adult films and they’d popped one in during a late night sleepover- thus spurring Yuka to give them the whole ‘popsicle’ talk. The woman on the screen had been able to take her man all the way in, and she could barely fit half of Inuyasha before she started gagging. Then again, she doubted Inuyasha cared.

            He clutched her head again, but this time to stop her not encourage.

            “Kagome! Kagome, stop! Stop! I’m going to...!”

             _‘Oh...’_

            She stopped, really not sure if she was ready to ‘swallow’ him if he did climax in her mouth. Her actions, however, had made her want him and she had no intention of leaving him hanging. Crawling up his body, she straddled his hips and lowered herself down onto him. He grabbed her thighs, trying to dislodge her.

            “Kagome, no! You’re sore!”

_‘Hmmm, if you’re still thinking about that, I’m doing something wrong.’_

            “It’s okay. This way, I can control how deep you go and it won’t hurt me.”

            He stared up at her, shell-shocked and wide-eyed. His pupils were almost completely dilated, and he was breathing in huge, heaving gasps. She smiled at him, and began to move.

            The position did leave her in complete control, but also left her in charge of her own pleasure. She tried to find a pace that pleased them both, but it was harder than she’d thought it would be. Finally, she found a rhythm that worked, and with Inuyasha’s help as he raised his hips to meet her, she was able to build the passion between them.

            Looking down at him, she took in the sight of him beneath her. His hair was spread out around his head in a fan of silken silver and his bangs were plastered to his forehead in sweaty ringlets. His skin was flushed and damp, and the expression on his face was one of abject adoration and bliss. He looked positively ravished and beautiful- the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire lifetime. She took his hands, squeezing them tight, and smiled at him.

            “You are magnificent,” she whispered.

            He gave a strangled cry in answer as he threw his head back and yanked his hands from her grasp, reaching for her, begging.

            “Kagome! Kagome, please... please let me...”

            His hands were sliding up her sides, pushing her backwards, and she realized what he was trying to do. Perfectly content to switch and let him do some of the work, she shifted and let him lower her to her back. He became dislodged during the move, but he remedied that as soon as he was between her legs again.

            With him in control and both of them too far gone to wait, he drove her to a swift and powerful climax, wasting no time and climaxing right after her. They both cried each other’s names as they shuddered with release, and Inuyasha collapsed on top of her immediately thereafter. They stayed there, a trembling, sweaty mass, until their breathing calmed and their hearts stopped pounding.

            “Okay. I like this position best,” she finally gasped, still tingling from her orgasm.

            His answer was a low chuckle that graduated into a barking laugh, which felt very strange considering that he was still inside her.

            “Do you?” he replied, lifting up on his arms so he could look at her. “I like this one too.”

            Slowly he disengaged and came to rest beside her, one hand reaching to hold hers tightly.

            “Thank you,” he whispered.

            She chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

            “That was the best so far, ne?”

            “Yeah,” she agreed.

            “Good. Now I know where to start to make it even better,” he said, giving her a cocky smirk. He looked so happy and pleased with himself.

            She smiled back warmly. “Oh no, I think I’m in trouble.”

            “You’ve been with me almost two years and you’re just figuring that out?”

            “No, but you should know by now that I like trouble.”

            “Heh, that’s why you got stuck with me.”

            She slapped him lightly on the chest. “Hey, I’m not ‘stuck with you.’ Don’t ever say that, especially not when we’re together like this, okay? I’m with you because I like being with you and I want to be by your side.”

            He gave her an awe-filled look. “I know. And that’s the most amazing thing of all.”

            They stared at each other and Kagome was certain he was going to tell her he loved her. She was waiting for it, because then she could tell him she loved him too, but the moment was broken by Yukio fussing in his sling. Kagome winced and Inuyasha groaned.

            “What timing, pup.”

            “Do you think we disturbed him?” she asked.

            “He’s probably been awake for a while, but figured since we were finished we could pay attention to him now.”

            “He is pushy.”

            “He lives up to his name,” he reminded, then added, “Should we go get him?”

            Kagome sighed. “Yeah. We probably should get more sleep, and I... I think I need to rest some before we do  ** _that_**  again.”

            He looked at her in concern. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

            She shook her head. “No, I’m just still a bit sore from before. It’s normal, I’m sure. I’ve never been with a boy before and well...” She gave him a sly smile. “You’re well endowed.”

            He blinked at her then blushed. “I am?” Then he got a little irritated. “Wait, how would you know?”

            Now it was her turn to blush. “Well, I’ve seen guys naked before...”

            “You have? Who? When?” he demanded.

            She laughed at his jealously. “Well, you for one. And Miroku.”

            “Miroku! What were you doing looking at that letch?!”

            She rolled her eyes. “He was just getting out of the hot spring. I surprised him. It was an accident. And... I’ve seen pictures of guys...”

            “Pictures? Where?”

            “Back home... in books...”

            “Books? What kind of books have you been reading, woman?!”

            She giggled. He was getting all flustered and jealous, and with him naked and still sweaty, it was amusing. She half expected him to start marking his territory to warn off other males.

_‘If he starts peeing on trees, I’m gonna ‘sit’ him…’_

            “It’s nothing. Never mind. You’re nicely proportioned. Leave it at that. Besides, there’s no reason for you to be jealous. As you said yourself, you were my first so that tells you how I feel about any other guys.”

            He snorted. “I just don’t like the idea of you looking at other men.”       

            “Why? None of them can compare to your greatness.”

            His eyes narrowed. “Hey, you’re humoring me.”

            She snickered. “Just a little. But it’s true. No one can compare to you, and no one ever will. So relax, my jealous hanyou. I only have eyes for you.”

            It looked like he would argue, but Yukio upped his fussing to a full cry.

            “We’d better get him before he starts wailing loud enough to wake the village. They’d come up here, torches burning, and we’d have to explain why we’re naked under this tree,” she said.

            He laughed and stood, walking over to retrieve their son. Kagome watched him, enjoying the view as he moved. She figured after what they had done together, she was allowed to look now. He was fluid grace and balance packaged into a lean, muscular form that had not a spare ounce of flesh on it. His muscles rippled under his smooth skin, showing off his washboard stomach and powerful legs. Oh, and he had a nice butt too.

            It thrilled her to know that no one else had ever seen him this way, or shared what they had shared. It certainly put her one up on Kikyou who’d never even kissed him when she was alive.

             _‘Cold undead bitch,’_  she thought, allowing herself a moment of bitterness.

            She let herself feel it sometimes because then it wouldn’t ever control her. By acknowledging her jealousy and resentment, and knowing her feelings were normal under the circumstances, she was able to diffuse them and honor them for what they were: proof that she loved Inuyasha. In this way, no one would ever be able to turn her against him or use her negative feelings to force her to hurt him.

             _‘Oh well, her loss, my gain.’_

            He noticed her appreciative stare as he returned to her side carrying Yukio in his sling and blushed a little. Then the blush faded and he lifted his head, his lips turning up into a sultry smile and he put a little swagger into his step.

_‘Hmm, I guess he figures he’s allowed to gloat some now too.’_

            “See something you like?” he asked huskily.

            She smiled back, playing his game. “Mmm hmmm, better than any picture I’ve ever seen.”

            He sat down next to her and she looked at him through her lashes. “Only this one I get to touch.”

            She trailed a finger down his chest to his stomach, making him shiver.

            “Kagome…” he sighed, closing his eyes in pleasure.

            She giggled and took the baby from him, settling Yukio in her lap.

            “And you, fussy boy. What do you want, hmmm?” she asked the infant.

            He wasn’t hungry and he didn’t need to be changed, but he was wide awake and looking at her with his big eyes.

            “Do you want attention?” she asked sweetly, rubbing his belly and cooing.

            He smiled and burbled happily, sticking his fist into his mouth.

            “Fine, rub  ** _his_**  belly will you,” Inuyasha sniffed in feigned annoyance.

            “I’ve already rubbed a lot more than your belly tonight.”

            “Keh!”

            She snickered, then a feeling of wetness between her legs made her pause.

            “Here, I need to clean up,” she said, giving Yukio back to him for a few moments.

            He obliged her, entertaining the baby with his hair and fingers while she used some of Yukio’s cleaning cloths to wipe herself off. Knowing what she was cleaning from her skin made her think of something rather important that they hadn’t paid any mind to until now, and she hoped she wasn’t going to regret getting caught up in the heat of passion.

            “Inuyasha?” she asked tentatively, finding her underwear and putting it back on.

            “Hmm?”

            “We didn’t use any birth control.”

            “Birth control?”

            “Ummm… something to keep me from getting pregnant,” she explained, slipping on her skirt.

            He blinked at her then shrugged. “It’s okay. I know your heat scent and you’re not in it.”

            She blushed. “You… you do?”

            He gave her a tolerant look and tapped his nose. “It’s not like you can hide it from me. It’s kind of obvious.”

            “Oh. Well, you’ve never said anything…” she said, returning to his side and settling next to him. She cast about for her bra and shirt, putting them on.

            “I like living. It’s bad enough when you go into heat because you get all cranky a few days later. I keep my head down because I know if I don’t you’ll slam it into the ground- repeatedly.”

            She chuckled nervously. “Am I really that bad?”  _‘I never realized he could smell when I’m fertile. I figured he could smell when I started bleeding, but I didn’t know he could smell the other…’_

            “You can be. If you don’t get enough to eat and sleep, then you’re worse.”

            “I didn’t realize that you were so aware of my body changes.”

            He shrugged. “I’m aware of any change in your scent, Kagome. As I tried to tell you, scent tells us inu-youkai a lot. We depend on it. I’m always aware of the scents around us. I can’t help but notice when you smell different.”   

            “Well, in this case, I think that will help us a lot because you’ll be able to smell when I’m fertile and we can use precautions.”

            “Yeah, you wouldn’t want another pup while you’re still nursing this greedy whelp,” he agreed, rubbing Yukio’s ears.

            Yukio giggled and waved his hands at his father, then he rolled to look at Kagome. She picked him up and held him in her lap while Inuyasha got dressed in his hakama and under kimono.

            “Now why wouldn’t I want another cute little baby like you, hmmm?” she said to him, tickling him under his chin. “Could it be that you’re already turning out to be as jealous as your father? All these cute men just vying for my attention. Whatever am I going to do?”

            Inuyasha snorted, draping his haori over her shoulders, then he settled behind her and pulled her and Yukio with him as he braced his back against a tree.

            “He starts interrupting us when we’re in the middle of something good and I’m scruffing him,” the adult hanyou warned.

            Kagome looked down at the baby in her lap, then gave Inuyasha a fond look.

            “If he starts doing that then yes, he’ll need to learn not to.”

            “Keh, he’ll be worse when he’s older.”

            Kagome thought back to the time when Souta was two, remembering how Mama couldn’t even go to the bathroom without him. He’d bang on the closed door and scream until she came out. She wondered if Yukio would be the same way.

            “We’ll manage,” she said with a shrug and a yawn. She was getting tired now that everything had calmed down.

            Yukio grabbed her finger and started gnawing on it.

            “Ow. We really have to do something about your biting,” she complained, pulling her finger away.

            Inuyasha replaced her finger with his own and felt along the inside of the baby’s mouth.

            “He’s teething. The upper fangs are starting to come in.”

            “Oh great.”

            “We should get him something to chew on.”

            “I already bought a teething ring for him. Do you want me to get it?”

            “He can use my finger for now. He’s not hurting me.”

            “You’re sure?”

            He nodded. “Yeah. He’s getting sleepy again anyway. His eyes are getting tired. He’ll go back to sleep soon.”

            “Hmm, maybe he just wanted to be cuddled.”

            “There is that.”

            Kagome snuggled into Inuyasha’s strong chest. “I can understand why. I like to be cuddled too.”

            He nuzzled her hair and gave her a soft kiss on her temple in answer, then pulled her closer. Kagome slipped the strap of the baby sling over her head and settled Yukio against her body, sequestering him safely between the two of them. The infant gave a tired gurgle and settled down with a tiny sigh. Kagome shared his sentiment and gave a sigh of her own, pulling Inuyasha’s haori around her shoulders for warmth.

            Inuyasha’s arms came further around her, tucking her into his embrace, and he rested his chin on her head as she snuggled into his shoulder. She fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat in her ears.

            When she woke again it was daylight. Inuyasha was already up and looking at her with tenderness and peaceful contentment.

            “Good morning,” he greeted.    

            She kissed him, loving the look on his face. “ ** _Now_**  it’s a good morning,” she told him.

            He gave a throaty growl, his eyes turning heated and his hands gripping her a little bit tighter.

            “Be careful, woman, we have to get to the village sometime.”

            “You mean we can’t stay here all day and just cuddle and make love and live on air?”

            She saw his face grow thoughtful as if he was actually considering it, then he shook his head and frowned sadly.

            “No. We need to find out about any shard rumors, and the others know that we’re coming back very soon. Someone would interrupt us,” he answered with no small amount of disappointment.

            She giggled and pulled slowly out of his embrace, stretching. Yukio fussed in his sling, and she knew it was just about time to feed and change him. Taking him out of his carrier, she switched his diaper and gave him breakfast. She could already feel the more prominent bumps from the fangs just beginning to cut through his gums, and knew that even if he didn’t bite her, nursing him once he had teeth was going to be a challenge.

            Inuyasha stayed next to her, nuzzling her and smiling at her and all around being uncharacteristically affectionate. Joy was just radiating off of him in waves and she couldn’t help but be happy herself, smiling at him and returning his affections until Yukio was finished and they were ready to go. Inuyasha picked up their supplies and her bag, and they left the well clearing.

            They emerged from the forest and into the sunlight. It was a bright, beautiful day and the village looked so quaint and peaceful with its rice paddies and wooden huts. Kagome stopped to admire it and feel at home.

            “We need our own hut,” Inuyasha said suddenly.

            “Hmm?” she questioned, looking askance at him.

            “What? You want to keep staying with Kaede after… last night?”

            “Oh,” she replied, understanding.

            He got a strange, excited look on his face and he hit his palm with one fist in decision. “I will build you a hut, Kagome. No! A  ** _house!_**  I will build you a good house, Kagome, a strong house. With separate rooms for sleeping!”

            “A house?” she repeated. He said it with such conviction and enthusiasm that she was taken aback.

            “And it will have a place for you to take your baths and  ** _glass_**  windows!” he went on happily.

            There was something in his face, in his voice, in the way he was saying these things, that set off little warning bells in her mind. There was something important going on here, something that was being implied and not actually said. Something having to do with the building of a house.

            It hit her suddenly and she gasped. She remembered Miroku’s proposal to Sango, how he had asked her to live with him and bear his child. Then after Naraku had been defeated, he would not wed her until he had made a place for them to live and raise their children. It had been a very important thing and everyone had helped build the couple’s new home, but ultimately the greater part of the work and planning had been up to the houshi at his own insistence.

            Now Inuyasha was promising her a house of her own that he would build with his own hands, and his vow was not unlike Miroku’s to Sango.

_‘He’s… he’s proposing.’_

            For a moment her heart could not contain her joy, but then she came crashing back down to earth. He wasn’t really asking her to marry him. No, he was assuming that she would stay with him and live in the house he would build.

            ‘ _But you will…’_  a little voice in her mind whispered.

            Yes, but how dare he assume that without even asking her? She was just about to tell him not to go all medieval on her when she realized that he essentially  ** _was_** medieval. The Sengoku Jidai wasn’t all that different from Medieval Europe, and in these times a man had to prove that he could provide his bride with food and shelter. Inuyasha was only responding in the way that was accepted by his era. There was no such thing as women’s rights and equal opportunity. With the sole exceptions of mikos and taijiyas like Sango, women were expected to marry, bear lots of sons and obey their husbands.

            She clenched her fists, unexpectedly angry.  _‘He just wants me to drop everything, spread my legs and be his little woman… of all the arrogant, selfish… that CHAUVANISTIC PIG!’_

             _‘But… but you want to be his woman,_ ’ the little voice reminded.  _‘And you know he’d never ask you to leave your life or treat you as a sex object or something to vent his need on. Look how he treated you last night when he found out he was hurting you. Those were not the actions of someone who is arrogant and selfish. Even now, he is promising to build you a house much finer than anything else in the village because he knows how much more luxury you are used to. He wants you to be happy here. He wants you to stay by his side and be his.’_

            Reality settled in on her as she remembered another person he had wanted to stay by his side, and she almost started to cry.  _‘I may be his, but he’s not mine and I can’t let him do something like that for me.’_

            “Inuyasha, wait,” she said, interrupting his descriptive plans. “You don’t have to do that.”

            He stopped and blinked at her. “Of course I do. Where will we live if I don’t?”

            She sighed. “Inuyasha. Don’t build me a house,” she said firmly.

            He stared at her, his eyes opening wide, and for a moment he looked absolutely crushed.

_‘Oh no, he thinks I’m rejecting him.’_

            She scrambled to reassure him, reaching for his hands, while she tried to find the words to tell him what she was feeling.

            “Inuyasha… I don’t need a house. In… in my time, men and women… they stay together and sometimes the man never builds the woman a house. But that’s okay because she doesn’t need a house and she stays with him anyway.”

            She could see him puzzling out her meaning, trying to understand what she was telling him, then his face grew impossibly sad.

            “What… what have I done? How have I behaved that you would think I would use a woman in such a way? That I would use you… like that,” he answered softly, pulling his hands away from hers.

_‘Oh, Inuyasha…’_

            “You wouldn’t… and you won’t. I know that, but…” She trailed off, tears welling in her eyes.

             _‘I have to do it. I have to tell him. It’s the only way he’ll understand.’_

            “But I love you,” she admitted, then met his stunned face. “I love you, Inuyasha, and I want to be with you. I want nothing more than to be by your side forever. We’ve talked about this before, about my decision to stay with you in spite of… everything. And I know that while I am, and have always been, yours; you aren’t mine and you can’t make the kind of promises to me that you’re making. But that’s okay. I’m okay with that.”

            He stared at her for a long moment, then his face fell and he looked away, his ears drooping.

            “Kikyou,” he breathed, his voice full of regret.

            “Kikyou,” she confirmed. “I know you made her a promise, and she holds part of your heart still. I know I’m her replacement and I’m okay with that because I chose it in order to stay with you. But it means I have no right to you or claim to you because you’re not free to be claimed. So until your relationship with her is resolved… in whatever way it’s resolved, I’ll stay with you and take whatever you’re free to offer me.”

            She stopped, unable to go on, and hoping she really didn’t have to. She’d said most of what she’d needed to say, and she prayed he would understand.

            He was quiet for a long time, his eyes looking down at the village, and she concentrated on her son, holding him and rocking him against her shoulder. He was a little fussy because she was upset, and she needed to comfort him almost as much as he needed comforting.

            “You’re not her replacement,” Inuyasha finally said, his voice sad and defeated. “You never were. You couldn’t be when you are so much more to me than she ever was. And you shouldn’t have to take whatever I’m free to give you. You deserve so much better than me.”

            “There is no one better, at least not for me Inuyasha.”

            He gave a short nod as if he had expected her to say that, and his face grew even sadder and more serious.

            “Let’s go, Kagome,” he said, and began walking towards the village.

            She looked at his back for a moment as he led the way, her heart aching and bleeding silently. Then she hurried to join him, at his side where she had been for the better part of two years. He didn’t look at her, but he did hold her hand when she reached for his. It was a small consolation.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

 

            Three weeks. It had been three weeks since they had begun… whatever it was that they’d begun. Three weeks since she had refused his promise, but not refused anything else.

 _‘She didn’t refuse you. She just told you you had to do something about Kikyou,’_  Inuyasha mentally berated himself.  _‘And she’s right. You can’t stay between two women anymore, you stupid worthless fuck. You can’t pledge yourself to one when you’re still promised to another.’_

            He growled and took his frustration out on the carp he was gutting, blood splattering everywhere.

_‘But I want to build Kagome a **house**! And I want her to live in it with me, and the pup, and our own pups that will come along later. I want to be with her. But how can I? And what about Kikyou? How can I abandon her when she suffered so much for me? How can I tell her I want to choose Kagome? And am I choosing Kagome for the right reasons? Do I choose her because she mates with me? No, we don’t mate, we… we make love as she calls it. Mating is too harsh a word for what she does to me. So do I choose her because she’ll make love with me? If Kikyou had made love with me, would I feel any different about her? Kikyou would never have made love with you, you idiot. You’re a tainted hanyou, remember? That’s what got you into this mess in the first place. Kikyou refused to touch you unless you became human. So does that mean that Kikyou  **didn’t**  love me?’_

            He paused to think about that and decided he didn’t like the taste it left in his mouth. He moved to the second carp. It was still flapping weakly, gasping for breath. Usually the fox kit would come fishing with him and kill the catch as he swiped them onto the riverbank, but recently Shippou had been distant and oddly quiet around him.

             _‘It’s because he smells you all over Kagome, and he knows what’s happened between you and he wants to know why you’re **not building her a**   **fucking house!**  Or worse, he knows why you’re not building her a house and thinks you’re an indecisive, woman-using, fucked up bastard.’_

            He let out a snarl and gutted the carp while it was still alive, the death feeling unusually satisfying today. His youkai side was raging, his blood boiling.  ** _It_**  had no qualms about choosing Kagome. Kagome mated with him, was fertile, and didn’t want to purify the youkai out of him. As far as his youkai side was concerned, there was no choice to be made.

            But his human heart had other ideas. It remembered the lonely miko who had reached out to an outcast hanyou. It remembered the long days of following her, of sitting next to her, of listening for her call. His whole body would come alive at the sound of her voice or the whiff of her scent. The heart remembered the love he had held for her, the hope he had seen when he looked into her eyes. 

_‘I can’t just forget Kikyou. Kagome knows that.’_

            He took the livers and put them in the clay jar, noting that it was almost full.

             _‘Good. Kagome will have plenty of liver. I have to provide for her. She’s still nursing the pup.’_

            He sighed. The pup. Yukio. His son. Another reason to choose Kagome. They were raising the pup together. He remembered all too well her distress and upset when he had suggested taking Yukio away from her, to ‘free’ her from the burden of her double life. He never wanted to see that look on her face again. Kagome loved Yukio as if he was her own child and he would never hurt her so badly as to take the pup away.

            And what would Kikyou do with the pup anyway? She couldn’t feed him. The pup would know she was dead when he smelled the grave soil. He could just imagine it.

_‘I’m sorry, pup. I’m going to take you away from a living, breathing woman who adores you and feeds you from her own breast, and give you to an undead walking pile of clay and bones who can’t feed you and probably wouldn’t want to even if she could. Aren’t I the best Oyaji ever? You may begin hating me now.’_

            He slammed his hand to the ground to keep himself from losing control. The pain kept him focused, kept him functioning. If he let himself fall apart now he might never be able to put himself back together. Slinging the gutted carp over his shoulder, he made his way back to the village.

He found Kagome sitting with the taijiya, her somber brother and the fox kit outside of the old woman’s hut. She had Yukio sitting in her lap wearing the red dog shirt that she loved so much. He was growing into it. Actually, he was growing like crazy. He’d easily doubled his weight in the time he had been with them. By his calculations the pup was just over twelve weeks old and showing it. Already he was becoming more mobile, crawling out of his carrier on his own and sitting up by himself. And he had almost a full set of teeth, much to poor Kagome’s dismay. Even though the pup never bit her with those teeth, he still put pressure on her nipples with them, making them sore and red.

             _‘I can barely touch them now when we make love. They always hurt her, but it’s too soon for her to wean him.’_

            He approached them and they looked his way when they saw him coming. Kagome offered him a bright smile that always made his heart skip a beat and his stomach clench because he knew he didn’t deserve her joy but couldn’t help but feel glad to see it. Sango gave him a smile as well, but it was colder, more reserved, and her eyes were veiled. Shippou pointedly looked away, concentrating on the pup in Kagome’s lap, while the boy, Kohaku, met his gaze with haunted eyes.

             _‘Hm. My brother may have saved that kid’s life, but I think part of his soul’s already dead. His sad face always gives me the creeps. He’s seen and done too much and he remembers all of it. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to have just let him die.’_

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome greeted as he joined them.

            “More liver and fish for dinner,” he said, offering her the clay jar and his catch.

            “Thank you,” she replied.

            Yukio squealed happily, making Inuyasha cringe, and opened his arms. The adult hanyou responded by rubbing the pup’s ears.

            “Hey, pup.”

            “You are as diligent as always, Inuyasha,” Sango commented.

            “Uhhh, yeah,” he stammered back, unable to meet her too calm gaze.  _‘Woman knows what’s going on too. Kagome talks to her a lot. I know how she feels about it. I’ve heard her say she’d have dropped me off a cliff by now. It’s a good thing she’s sticking close to home now that she’s starting to show. She’ll sit out the next shard hunt, I’m sure of it.’_

            “Why don’t you take them in to Kaede, Inuyasha. I’m sure she’ll have an idea as to what to do with them. Maybe she’ll bake them for us if we promise to share,” Kagome suggested.

            “Yeah, okay.” It was a clear dismissal and he felt a pang of jealousy. What were she and the others talking about that she didn’t want him around to hear?

             _‘You most likely, you stupid fuck. She’s probably telling her all about your latest escapades. No… Kagome would never betray our privacy that way,’_  he thought, taking his kill into the hut where the old woman was tying up dried herbs.

            “Oi. Kaede-babaa. I brought fish and more liver.”

            “Inuyasha,” the old miko answered. “Put them by the fire pit. I’ll cook them later.”

            “Kagome wanted to know if you could bake them if we promised to share.”

            “Hrrrmmm. Yes, I can do that if you’ll bring me more wood.”

            He sat next to her, crossing his legs. “I can do that later. Is there anything you need help with right now?”

            Kaede gave him a wry, knowing look. “It’s not polite to eavesdrop, Inuyasha.”

            He snorted and bit his lip. “I’m not!” he protested.

            Her look never changed but she reached over and handed him a bucket of fresh herbs. “Separate those into leaves, stems and flowers.”

            He grunted and got to work, but the old woman was right, he was eavesdropping. Sometimes he swore Kagome forgot he had enhanced hearing.

            “So, you were telling me about your trip home.” Sango’s voice, light and interested.

            He heard Kagome sigh. “It was good. I picked up my school work and celebrated my birthday.”

            “You’re seventeen now, ne?”

            “Yep. My friends threw me a birthday party. It was a lot of fun.”

            He smirked as he separated the herbs. Yeah, her party had been fun, but not as much fun as she’d had once she got home. He’d stayed behind to watch Yukio because no one knew about the pup, and when Kagome got back she wanted what she called ‘birthday sex.’ It wasn’t any different from their normal lovemaking, except that they were doing it on her birthday and in her bed, but she’d said it was the best birthday present ever.

            Come to think of it, it had been just a little more exciting and urgent, but he’d blamed the extra rush on knowing someone could walk in on them at any moment and find them in a compromising position. And he’d taken extra care to make sure he pleased her more than usual. He’d had no other present for her, so he opted for giving her a couple of extra climaxes… okay, a few extra climaxes. She could be so damned responsive when he got her going.

            Inuyasha squirmed where he sat, his body reacting to the memory and he had to squash his arousal.

             _‘Damn. I’m hopeless. I can’t go a single morning without thinking about her in my arms. Well, it **could**  have something to do with the fact that it’s her bleeding time right now and I can’t have her until it’s over.’_

            It had only been three days but his body was already screaming, and he had at least another two days to wait. Kagome had taken him into her mouth yesterday to help ease the urge, and that had taken the edge off his need, but nothing compared to being inside her and now that he had had her, he craved her like he craved food.

             _‘Two days. Just two more days…’_  he reminded himself. Then they would have two weeks of worry-free, or mostly worry-free, lovemaking until her heat cycle began. He was already making plans about what to do on that first night.

            He squirmed again, growling to himself and concentrating on separating the herbs  ** _without_**  shredding them with his claws. And turned his ears backward to catch more of the conversation going on outside, ignoring Kaede’s tsk-ing mutter.

            “So, has Inuyasha spoken with Kikyou?” he heard Sango ask.

            He froze in mid-separation, his whole body tensing as he listened for Kagome’s answer.

            “No.” She sounded calm, but sad.

            The taijiya snorted derisively. “Really Kagome, how can you stand it? You give yourself to him and agree to raise this child with him, and yet you continue to let him two-time you.”

            He drooped his ears.

            “It’s… it’s not that simple,” Kagome defended. “Inuyasha can’t forget about Kikyou. I’ve always known that.”

 _‘Defending you again, you good-for-nothing jerk,’_  he thought dourly.  _‘You don’t deserve the love and faith she shows you.’_

            “It is that simple,” Sango argued vehemently. “Who broke his seal? Who has stayed beside him? Who has cared for him and saved him? How many times have you risked your life to protect him? Do you think Kikyou would have approached him when he was in full youkai form? Do you think  ** _she_**  would have comforted him and forgiven him when he slaughtered those human bandits? Do you think  ** _she_**  would have saved  ** _you_**  if your places had been reversed and it was you who needed purifying?”

            Inuyasha waited to hear her answer. He knew there were serious doubts about Kikyou’s intentions and choices. Hell, he had them himself.

             _‘Would my Kikyou have behaved the way she has done? Is she truly only a shadow of the woman she once was? A shell that bears her face and has her memories?’_

            “I… I don’t know. I have to believe she would have because Inuyasha would never have fallen in love with someone who wouldn’t. I have to believe that someone who would nurse a crippled bandit like Onigumo, even though he had filthy thoughts about her and wanted to see her corrupted, would also have saved me if I needed help. I have to believe that because the alternative is unthinkable.”

            He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth at the wave of pride and bittersweet joy that welled up inside his chest. The size of her heart never ceased to amaze him. Kikyou had been pure and good, but no one...  ** _no one_**  had a heart as pure and vast as Kagome. Kagome forgave, and forgave and forgave. She harbored no hate or bitterness or resentment. Yes, she was jealous and envious of Kikyou but she had every right to be, and she never let those negative feelings stay for long.

            Kikyou, on the other hand, had hated. Her hate had run deep and tainted their love well before Naraku turned them against each other. She’d never trusted him and he’d never really trusted her. Always she kept herself apart, blaming her responsibilities and duties as a miko for her aloneness; all the while cursing those same duties for dooming her to a life of servitude at the cost of her own happiness. She wore her pain and suffering like a shroud, using it to hold her away from others, especially him. Kikyou had said she wanted to be a normal woman and live with him as husband and wife, but what she had really wanted was freedom.

_‘And you were willing to give it to her because you loved her and were desperate to finally belong somewhere. And she **did** love you. She did. As much as she was able.’_

            He stopped his thoughts because Kagome was speaking again and he focused on her words.

            “And we don’t know what broke his seal. I mean, I know I was the one who pulled out Kikyou’s arrow, but he was already awake by then. Not even Kaede-obachan knows why he woke up,” she continued.

            Sango snorted. “I think it’s obvious that you did, and you could do it because you have Kikyou’s soul. The only one who  ** _could_**  have broken the seal was the one who put it on him in the first place.”

             _‘That’s right. Kagome is Kikyou reincarnated. Her soul is Kikyou’s, well… except for the part that Kikyou still has. I wonder. Does she miss that tiny piece sometimes? Does it bring her pain? She’s never said…’_

            “I don’t know anything about that,” he heard Kagome sigh.

             _‘That’s a lie,’_  he thought.  _‘She knows it was her scent… or maybe her scream for help. I don’t know exactly what it was, but I know it was she that woke me. I don’t think she did it consciously. I think her soul just reached out for mine and grabbed hold of it. I remember coming out of my long sleep to the scent of her coming towards me, but before that…’_

            “What I do know is that Inuyasha still has feelings for Kikyou and I can’t compete with them. She was his first love, and he feels responsible for her death because Naraku made them betray each other, and Kikyou chose to follow him rather than use the Shikon no Tama to heal her wounds,” Kagome went on.

            “Kikyou chose to die because she was tired of having to live with her responsibilities.”

            Anger welled in him at the taijiya’s callous remark.  _‘What the fuck does she know?’_

            “I…” Kagome began.

            “No, Kagome, listen to me. I’ve seen it before. People in my village, men who had fought youkai all their lives got tired of always facing death, of always fighting. They’d make mistakes or lose their hearts for the battle. Usually they’d die at the hands of a youkai and everyone would say they died bravely fulfilling their duty, butChichi-ue would point them out to me and tell me they’d just given up. What looked like a valiant, brave battle was just seppuku in disguise. In time, I could tell the difference too, and from everything I have heard about Kikyou’s death, she used it as an escape from a life she didn’t want to live any longer,” Sango explained, her voice hard with conviction.

            “Oh my god. Don’t ever, ever let Inuyasha hear you say that,” Kagome gasped.

            “Why not? It’s true and someone has to kick some sense into that boy because you won’t. He clings to an idealized memory of a woman who never existed and ignores the one in front of him. He takes responsibility for something that was not his fault, and assumes blame where he is blameless. Do you see Kikyou coming around and begging forgiveness for sealing him to that tree? Don’t forget it was  ** _Naraku’s_**  claws that dealt Kikyou her mortal wound not Inuyasha’s, but it was  ** _Kikyou’s_**  arrow that pinned Inuyasha to the God Tree.  ** _She_**  shot  ** _him_**. Inuyasha never touched her.”

            Inuyasha felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, and he clenched his fists as rage roiled up inside of him.

_‘No. That’s not true. It is my fault. If only I had trusted her… Kikyou would not have died.’_

            Kagome seemed to be reading his mind because her next words were, “But if they had only trusted each other and their love, Naraku would never have been able to force them to betray each other.”

            “And how do you think they could have done that? Naraku attacked Kikyou first when Inuyasha wasn’t with her, then put the Shikon no Tama  ** _back into the shrine_** just so Inuyasha would steal it and be in a position for Kikyou to shoot him. Just how do you think that could have gone any differently other than Inuyasha finding Kikyou mortally wounded and watching her die in his arms? Naraku wanted Kikyou’s death. The only way they could have prevented that was if Inuyasha hadn’t left Kikyou alone, which he did because she didn’t trust him and was ashamed of him because he was a hanyou. If she had really and truly trusted and loved him, she would never have asked him to become human for her. She would have loved him as a hanyou the way you do. Kikyou’s powers weakened when she fell in love with Inuyasha while yours got stronger. Why do you think that is?”

            Sango’s angry words were blows to his heart, and he clenched his fists so tightly his claws dug into his palms and blood seeped down to splash on the wooden floor.

             _‘Damn bitch’s mouth is running away with her, but no matter what I won’t… **I**   **won’t**  hit a pregnant woman.’_

            “Inuyasha,” Kaede said softly and he opened his eyes to see her holding a cloth out to him for his bleeding hands.

            He was reaching for the cloth when the reed door flew open and a very pissed off and weeping taijiya stormed in.

            “Do you hear me, Inuyasha?! You don’t owe that undead clay pot anything! You fulfilled your obligation when you killed Naraku and avenged her death! So you stop hurting my friend! You’ll never find anyone who loves you as much as Kagome-chan! Stop two-timing her, you selfish, ignorant, indecisive jerk!”

            She took the wooden bucket with the herbs and smashed it over his head.

            “BAKA!” she screamed, tears streaming down her face, then she ran out leaving a very stunned Kagome in the doorway, holding Yukio.

            “Ummm,” Kagome said, blinking at him.

            He was holding his head and desperately trying to keep in the string of curses that were begging to be let out. In a moment, she was by his side, placing Yukio in his lap, pulling out one of her magic cold packs from her bag and putting it on the rising lump.

            “Please forgive her, Inuyasha. She’s pregnant and all my books about pregnancy say now is when all her hormones start going crazy. She’s not really herself and she didn’t mean it,” she stammered, her hands shaking as she treated him.

            He gritted his teeth and said nothing. She saw the wounds on his palms and he knew she recognized them for what they were, but to her credit she kept quiet. Digging into her bag again, she took out the bandages and other supplies to clean and dress the wounds. As always, she tended him with gentleness and care, wiping the blood off of his palms and spreading healing cream on the cuts before loosely wrapping them in white gauze. He didn’t bother to tell her that the wounds would be gone by nightfall. In truth, he needed her tender touch to soothe the aches in his soul, and he wanted nothing more than to lay his head on her shoulder and beg her forgiveness for being such a bastard.

            Instead he opted for taking her hands in his when she was finished dressing them and raised regretful eyes to hers. She looked back at him with sorrow, understanding and love.

 _‘I truly, truly do not deserve you,’_  he thought sadly.

            They looked into each other’s eyes for long moments, then Kagome leaned forward and hugged him. It was forgiveness, comfort and absolution all at once and he wrapped arms around her, pulling her as close as he could with Yukio in his lap, and buried his face in her hair.

            “I love you,” she whispered.

            He answered with a soft breath of air against her skin as he nuzzled his lips against her throat, feeling the steady pulse of her heartbeat beneath his mouth. He let his tongue sneak out and taste her flesh, but for once since they’d become lovers his body did not react to her closeness, other than to feel solace in her embrace.

             _‘I love you too Kagome,’_  he replied silently.

            She pulled back and kissed him on the forehead.

            “Can you watch Yukio?” she asked.

            He nodded, still not really able to speak.

            “I’m gonna go make sure Sango is okay. I’ll be back in a little while.”

            “Okay,” he managed faintly.

            She gave him a watery smile and left the hut quietly. Yukio watched her go and gave a little whimper of distress.

            “Oi, pup. You’re with Oyaji now,” he told the pup, rubbing his ears.

            Yukio turned huge golden eyes his way and whined, stuffing his fist into his mouth. The action reminded Inuyasha of something he’d gotten for the pup, and he reached into the front of his haori to get it.

            “Here,” he said, handing Yukio a small river stone about twice the size of the pup’s fist.

            Yukio snatched it and immediately put it to his mouth, gnawing on it because it was too big to fit. Inuyasha gave a grunt of approval. The pup was still teething and he’d already bitten through multiple teething rings that Kagome had bought for him. He knew Kagome would be upset, but pups typically teethed on rocks. This one was smooth and clean because he’d taken it out of the river himself when he was fishing. Hopefully it would last longer than the teething aids Kagome had spent money on.

            Pup pacified, he turned his attention to Kaede and the wreckage of the herb bucket.

            “I’m sorry. I’ll clean this up,” he promised, already picking up the scattered plants.

            The old woman looked at him with wise and sympathetic eyes. “Think nothing of it. I am sure Sango herself will bring me a new bucket to replace the one she broke. You are alright, are you not?”

            “Keh, I’m a lot more hard-headed than that, babaa.”

            Kaede just chuckled. “Am I expected to ignore that?”

            He snorted. “What? You got something to say too? Gonna tell me I’m a rotten, two-timing bastard?”

            The old miko sighed. “We have spoken of this before, Inuyasha. Kikyou-onee-sama is no longer the woman you knew. My sister died over fifty years ago and what walks in her image is naught but a fake shell of earth and bones.”

            “But the  ** _soul_**  is Kikyou’s,” he insisted.

            “The soul is  ** _Kagome’s_**. What animates my sister now is a stolen piece of soul that rightfully belongs to her reincarnation,” Kaede corrected.

            “Am I to just abandon her then? To ignorantly go on with my life, heedless of her pain and suffering?”

            “Are you so certain she would think herself abandoned?”

            “Huh?”

            “Inuyasha, Naraku is dead and my sister’s death avenged. You and your traveling companions have all returned here to this village. Where is Kikyou-onee-sama? She is not here. She did not return to the village of her birth and to me, her sister. Here, we would know what she is and she would have no fear of being discovered. And you are here as well, Inuyasha. If she holds such love for you, why is she not here by your side?” the old woman pointed out calmly.

            Inuyasha shrugged. He was glad Kikyou wasn’t there. When his two loves were in close proximity, he always felt torn in two.

            “How the hell should I know? The last time we met, she was gathering shards too.”

            “To what end?”

            “To complete the Shikon no Tama.”

            “And then what?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “Inuyasha, it pains me to admit, but you can no longer assume that my sister’s intentions for the jewel are pure,” Kaede warned.

            He shook his head. “I refuse to believe to that. Kikyou… Kikyou’s been different ever since Kagome saved her from Naraku’s miasma.”

            “Ah yes, Kagome… that sweet, loving child who gives you all of herself and asks nothing from you in return. Even when you were with my sister when she was alive, I never saw your eyes soften for her the way they do for Kagome. You  ** _want_**  to build her a house.”

            He sighed in defeat. “Yes. But she has refused me because of Kikyou.”

            “She does not act like one who has refused a bonding.”

            He knew she was referring to the cuddling and kissing he and Kagome got up to when they were together in the hut. They had never made love or been sexually intimate with each other under Kaede’s roof, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that they were lovers.

            “She told me she would accept whatever I was free to give her until I had resolved things with Kikyou,” he replied, feeling ashamed.  _‘It sounds pathetic even when **I** say it.’_

            “And have you decided what you are going to do?”

            He looked away from the knowing gaze. “No.”

            “But yet you share your futon with Kagome and want to build her a house.”

            He was getting irritated again, but mostly at himself. “Yes, damnit, I already said that!”

            Yukio dropped his rock and let out a plaintive cry. Inuyasha rolled his eyes even as he shushed him.  _‘Great, now the pup’s crying. If he’s still bawling by the time Kagome gets back, she’ll think I’m at fault and sit me for sure.’_

            “And what of the little one? You’ve promised to raise him with Kagome, have you not?”

            He draped Yukio across his shoulder and patted his back. “Yes, old woman, you know full well that I have.”

            “Then you have already made your choice. It is just a matter of telling my sister.”

            “How can I? How can I tell her I choose Kagome? I made a promise to her and my life is hers. How can I turn my back on her when she has returned to me?”

            Kaede held up one quieting finger. “Kikyou-onee-sama did return to you. She returned to you as Kagome. She came back through time to free you and right a terrible wrong. When Urasue resurrected my sister and put her into that clay body, she upset the balance of things. Eventually, my sister must leave this world and her soul return into Kagome. You know this, Inuyasha.”

            He was going to protest, but she cut him off by continuing, “And your life does not belong to her. In that, the taijiya speaks true. Your obligation ended with the death of Naraku.”

            “I can’t. I can’t abandon her and tell her she is all alone,” he replied brokenly.  _‘I made her a promise. I have nothing if I don’t have my word.’_

            “If you do not make a choice, eventually one will be made for you, and that choice may be one you will not like. You may lose them both, Inuyasha.”

            “I made her a promise.”

            “So did my sister, but she is not here, Inuyasha. I have told you before that you cannot be together. Kikyou-onee-sama’s wish was to die with you. The time for you to live the life you planned together has passed.”

            “But the Shikon no Tama could restore her to life, right?”

            The old woman blinked at him. “And then what? Whose soul would she have? Would you have her take Kagome’s?”

            “No!” he gasped, practically choking on the idea.  _‘Never! Never would I choose one at the cost of the other’s life! That’s why I haven’t been able to choose. What if Kikyou’s life depends upon me being there to protect her? I failed her twice… but… but I can’t protect her if she keeps herself far away from me.’_

            “And say this deed is done and my sister is alive again. Would you keep your promise and become human for her so that you may live as man and wife?”

            He swallowed hard, pushing the lump in his throat back down. “If… if that is to be our fate.”

            “You would leave Kagome and your little one to be with Kikyou-onee-sama? You would abandon the life you have made with them in an attempt to resurrect one that died fifty years ago?” Kaede asked leadingly, making him feel pressured.

            He looked at the warm bundle of pup in his arms and a pair of golden eyes blinked back at him, little ears twitching in the silver hair. He was shocked by the rush of love and fierce protectiveness that flooded through him, and he touched Yukio’s ears gently.

_‘Could I leave you? Could I turn my back on you and Kagome?’_

            “I don’t know,” he said aloud.

            “And would you give up your power as a hanyou for a woman who could not love you as one and forsake the one who has loved you as you are?”

            “I don’t know.”  _‘Stop it, you old hag. You are really pushing me!’_

            Kaede heaved a huge sigh and shook her head. “Oh, Inuyasha, you have gotten yourself into a terrible bind; more terrible than the one you got yourself into when my sister sealed you to that tree. I worry about the outcome, for I see nothing but pain ahead if you do not make the right choice.”

            “And that choice should be Kagome not Kikyou, right? You think so too, don’t you babaa,” he snapped, losing his temper.

            “You should choose the one who loves you purely, Inuyasha.”

            “Are you saying Kikyou’s love is tainted?” Now he was really getting angry.  _‘No one speaks badly about Kikyou…’_

            “I am saying that you claim my sister loves you, but I repeat to you: if that is so, why is she not here?”

            “Because she’s out there gathering shards while I’m here saddled with a pregnant taijiya, a nursing bitch and a helpless pup!”

            There was dead silence, which was odd because he expected an answer from the old miko, but she remained quiet and looked at something over his shoulder. His ears twitched and a familiar scent wafted into his nose. Yukio smelled it too and made a happy burble, but his own heart sank into his feet. He didn’t need to look in order to know who was there.

_‘No… oh **FUCK**  no…’_

            Resigned to his fate and cursing his temper and runaway mouth, he turned his head to see Kagome standing in the doorway. Her face was unreadable but her hands were clenched.

            “Kagome…” he breathed.

            She stepped forward and took the pup from him, holding him against her shoulder.

            “I came to get him,” was all she said in answer.

            “Sango is herself again?” Kaede asked.

            Kagome nodded. “She sends her regrets and apologies and promises to bring you a new bucket.”

            The old woman grunted an assent. “I am glad she has calmed. Stress is bad for the baby.”

            “She went back to her hut to take a nap. Kohaku and Shippou went with her.”

            “Rest will do her some good.”

             _‘They’re ignoring me; pretending I’m not here. What do I do? I know Kagome heard me say that. How do I make it better?’_  he thought frantically.

            “Kagome,” he tried.

            She looked at him and he immediately regretted speaking.

            “Sango says to tell you she is very sorry for breaking the bucket over your head.”

            He winced at her cold tone.  _‘Obviously her blow did nothing to fix my fucked up brain.’_

            He saw her take a deep breath and knew what was coming. He braced for it.

            “I’m going home.”

 _‘What? No sit? No ‘Inuyasha you insensitive baka!’ Just: I’m going home?’_  he thought, stunned and concerned.

            Somehow the fact that she  ** _hadn’t_**  punished him struck more fear into his heart than anything else.

            “Kagome…”

            “I’m sorry that Sango and Yukio and I are keeping you from doing what you want to do,” she told him.

            “I didn’t mean it like that…” he tried.

            “Why don’t you go find Kikyou and you and she can hunt for shards together. She can see them as well as I can so you don’t need me around.”

            She turned to leave and he stood up, intent on stopping her.

            “Kagome!”

            “Osuwari.”

            His face hit the hut floor and he was oddly glad.

_‘Okay, she’s sat me and now… now we can make up, right?’_

            She was walking towards the forest when he caught up to her.

            “Kagome! Oi! Wench!”

            “Osuwari,” she repeated and down he went.

            “Gah! Kagome-e-e!”

            He picked himself up only to find himself subdued again, repeatedly as she let out a string of sits that dropped him right there in the dirt. The truly frightening thing about it, however, was not that she was pounding his face into the ground. No, he fully expected that and was relieved to get it. The scary part was that there was no anger or emotion in her words. They were just a carefully and deliberately timed series of ‘osuwari’s purposefully designed to make it physically impossible for him to follow her.

            “KAGO-O-M-E-E-E!!!”

            The last thing he saw through his dust filled, pain-filled eyes was Yukio’s little face peering over Kagome’s shoulder as she walked out of sight.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

 

            “SANKON TESSOU!” he screamed and another tree fell victim to his claws.

            At this rate, the village would not only have enough firewood to last the winter (which was still a number of months away) but enough logs to build eight new huts... or four huts and a house. He sliced up the tree into human-manageable parts, cursing and snarling the whole time, then he stopped, slammed his fists into the ground with earth-shuddering force and let out a howl that ripped its way right out of his soul. He was sure it shook the trees all the way to the village, but he didn’t care.

            Four days. It had been four days. There was no breath, no word, no hint of when Kagome would return and he was afraid to follow her. The futon was cold and her scent was fading. He’d taken to shoving his face deep into her pillow just to catch a whiff of her, and he had it stuffed into a hollow of the dead tree he now slept in because there was no welcome for him in the village. Everywhere he went the people looked angrily at him, not because he was a hanyou, but because he was the heartless bastard who had hurt the Lady Kagome and made her run away. Even Kaede who he knew loved him, looked at him with sad eyes and shook her head. Sango wouldn’t speak to him, and Shippou would scream and cry. Only Miroku would look at him with something other than disgust or disappointment. No, the houshi looked at him with pity.

            “ARGHHH! KAGOME-E-E-E-E!!!!!!” he cried to the sky, but what he really wanted to say was: Please come back to me. I’m lost without you. I’m sorry. Forgive me! Please forgive me!

            Growling, he returned to his work, dragging the cut up logs and throwing them forcibly onto the huge pile he’d already amassed at the edge of the village. He turned back to the forest, but paused as he looked up. The rains were coming and soon the clouds would open to weep the tears he could not cry himself.

            Miroku found him huddled by the well later that night, out in the rain and drenched to the skin. He glared up at the monk through dripping bangs and saw him standing there under one of Kagome’s umbrellas. A second one was in his hand, along with a blanket.

_‘Huh? Came to tend the pathetic loser, did you?’_

            “What do you want?” he snarled.

            “Isn’t it obvious?” came the calm reply as Miroku opened the second umbrella and offered it to him.

            He growled and slapped the gift away. “Don’t need it, and I don’t need your pity, bouzu!”

            Anger flashed in the other man’s eyes briefly. “Your behavior is unbefitting for a man of your character, Inuyasha.”

            “Keh! What do you know about my character, monk?”

            “I know that you are torturing yourself when you should be going to see Kagome-sama.”

            “And tell her what? I’m sorry I’m a pathetic, good-for-nothing bastard who made you feel like you and the pup were a burden?” he snapped.

            “That’s a start.”

            He snorted. “Keh! She’d sit me into oblivion.”

            “And it would be no more than you deserve, but you don’t know what she will do until you go there.”

            “How can I? After what I’ve done? She’s better off without me.” ‘ _She is. I’m a burden to her, not the other way around.’_

            “I doubt Kagome-sama would agree. She loves you with all her heart. I am sure she would find a way to forgive you.”

            “I don’t deserve it.”

            “That goes without saying, but seeing as whether or not she forgives you is not your choice, your worthiness of that forgiveness is irrelevant.”

            He growled and huddled further into his soaked clothes. Miroku retrieved the umbrella and offered it again along with the dry blanket. He glared at it angrily.

            “Inuyasha, please stop this. We are all worried about you and Kagome-sama. It is obvious that you are in terrible pain. No doubt Kagome is suffering too in her country. Pull yourself together and go to see her.”

            He was losing it and he knew it. It was all he could do just to keep his emotions in check, but he knew his agony must have been reflected in his eyes because his friend’s face softened and the monk crouched down next to him.

            “Inuyasha.”

            “How can I? How can I, Miroku? How can I?”

            “You just do, because Kagome-sama is more important than a petty argument or a slip of the tongue.”

            “What if she tells me she never wants to see me again? What if I’ve really lost her this time? And the pup? What if she keeps my pup?” he asked, heartbroken.

            “Then that is her decision and the choice between Kagome-sama and Kikyou-sama has been made for you.”

_‘But I’d already chosen Kagome in my heart…’_

            “I’m afraid,” he admitted.

            “I know. I’m sure Kagome-sama is frightened too. She fears you have gone to Kikyou and left her behind.”

            He shook his head. “I promised to never leave her side again. I know I haven’t kept that promise, but I’ve always returned to her.”

            Miroku nodded and put a hand on his wet shoulder. “And you must do so again; if only to hear what she has to say to you.”

            He closed his eyes in defeat and looked away. Miroku positioned the umbrella over his shoulder, bracing it against the well so the wind wouldn’t blow it away and placed the dry blanket in his lap. The action struck him as funny because his hakama was soaked, but he didn’t say anything.

            “I’ll pray for you, my friend.”

            With that, the monk stood and slowly walked away, leaving him alone with his pain, but at least a little bit drier. A moment later a warm bundle settled between his knees and he looked down to see Shippou huddled there. The kit looked and smelled like he’d been crying but his green eyes were dry now. He half expected him to start his usual admonishments, but no recriminations or accusations came. Instead, Shippou merely hunkered down into the dry blanket and tentatively rested his head against his chest.

            Inuyasha closed his eyes and shivered, the small gesture doing more to break him into pieces than any shouts or cries ever could. Somehow the kit knew that once you’d held a warm life in your arms, you felt forever bereft if it was taken from you. He missed Kagome and their pup more than he ever thought he possibly could. He missed them like he would miss the use of a limb. But they were not here and Shippou was, and the kit needed comforting as much as he did.

            Slowly, he raised his arms and wrapped them around the young kitsune. Small hands came up to hug him, and they both sighed. He nuzzled his nose into the flaming red hair and gently stroked the kit’s back with one hand. It felt good to hold someone again, to feel loved and wanted instead of outcast and alone.

            “I’ll go get her in the morning. I promise,” he whispered.

            Shippou’s cheek nodded against his chest. “Good.”

           

********

 

            Morning dawned and it was dry, the rain having passed sometime during the night. Shippou was still asleep against him, but woke immediately the moment he moved. No words were spoken between them, but there was a silent understanding. The kit hopped off his lap and he stood up to stretch, then he gave the kitsune a measuring look. Shippou nodded to him, and waited, the umbrella and damp blanket tucked under his little arm, as he peered over the edge of the well. With a final glance to Shippou and a nod, he gathered his courage and jumped in.

            The time slip accepted him, relieving one of his fears that Kagome had managed to seal the well behind her, and he emerged on the other side. It was early and he hoped that he had arrived before Kagome left for school. He crossed the shrine grounds and leaped up onto the roof above Kagome’s window, peering down over the edge to peep into her bedroom. He sighed with relief to see her still in bed, a little tuft of silver hair sticking out from under the blankets to mark where the pup was nestled against her instead of in the rocking ‘bassinet’ her mother had purchased and put in her room one day. The only time the pup didn’t sleep with them was when they wanted the bed to themselves for activities that didn’t involve sleeping.

            Silently, he pulled open the window, grateful that it was unlocked and taking it as a sign that she wasn’t trying to keep him out, and slipped in. Her alarm clock was set to go off at any moment, so he turned it off because he wanted to be the one to wake her. He crept up to the side of the bed and just looked at her sleeping face, his heart pounding with fear and joy.

_‘Kagome. My Kagome. My beautiful Kagome.’_

            Her scent filled his nostrils and he breathed deep, drinking it in like a man dying of thirst. The missing pieces of his heart fell back into place the moment her smell soothed his soul, and he relaxed for the first time in four days. His ease did not last long, however, because Yukio caught his scent and roused with a questioning burble. The pup’s movements woke Kagome and she opened sleepy, brown eyes. He froze.

            She stared at him for long moments, perhaps wondering if he was a dream, then her eyes filled up with tears and she whispered his name.

            “Inuyasha.”

            He laid his head on her mattress in a move that any inu-youkai would have recognized as a gesture of submission.

            “Kagome. I’m so sorry, Kagome,” he whispered, wanting desperately to wipe away those tears and never see her cry because of him again.

            “You came for me. I was so scared that you wouldn’t ever come.”

            “I didn’t know that you wanted me to. I was so awful to you and I didn’t know if you would still be mad at me.”

            She just looked at him, her eyes so sad. He broke.

            “Please forgive me,” he begged.

            One hand snaked out from under the covers and stroked his cheek and face.

            “I forgive you.”

            He sighed, all the tension leaving his body in one huge rush, and nuzzled into her hand. Under the covers, Yukio was moving and he pulled aside the blanket to see his pup. Golden eyes and puppy ears and a big smile greeted him and he nuzzled the pup too, making little noises of reunion that inu-youkai made after being separated. The pup responded by grabbing onto his hair and gurgling. Kagome moved back, making room for him on the bed and he moved to climb in beside her. She put a hand on his arm and frowned.

            “Your haori is damp.”

            He shrugged. “I got stuck out in the rain,” he explained.

            “You should get out of your wet clothes then and let them dry.”

            “Oh. Okay.”

            In one of her drawers was a set of pants that she had bought for him a long time ago. They were grey and soft and she called them ‘sweat pants.’ He wore them very rarely, usually when his own clothes weren’t wearable for one reason or another. He retrieved them now and slipped into them as he removed his haori, kimono and hakama spreading them over her curtain rod and the back of her desk chair to dry. Then he joined her in the bed, snuggling up with Yukio between them.

_‘I’m home. Thank the gods, I’m home.’_

            “Inuyasha,” she murmured into his hair.

            “Kagome.”

            His lips sought hers and found them, kissing her carefully, seeking reassurance more than anything else. She responded, pressing close to him and the sweet scent and warmth of her body ignited the fire in his loins. He was amazed when he smelled her own faint arousal wafting up to his nostrils, and he kissed her a little more urgently.

             _‘It’s been four days. Her bleeding time is over,_ ’ he thought with elation.

            Yukio was deposited into his bassinet without too much fuss other than needing a quick diaper change, and they returned to her bed.

            Their joining was tentative and reverent, and more a reconnection than a wild, passionate tryst. He took her with gentleness and no small amount of awe that she would accept him back into her body so soon. He had been prepared to wait a good long while before she let him make love to her again, and the fact that they were doing it within an hour of being reunited was mind-boggling to him. Not that he was about to refuse. No, not at all. For him, it was the clearest evidence of her forgiveness, and he wasn’t about to pass it up.

            They made love quietly, keeping the noise to the absolute minimum because they knew that the rest of the household would be rising to start the day. When he slid his tongue between her thighs, she stuffed her pillow into her mouth to muffle her moans, and he bit her blankets to stifle his when he mounted. They climaxed together, each swallowing the other’s cry in their mouths as they kissed in the final moments of their coupling.

            When it was over and they were resting in each other’s arms, and Kagome was stroking his hair and telling him she loved him, he was struck with an overwhelming rush of love, humility and relief. It took him over, making him tremble in her embrace, and she drew him close to rest his head on her breasts. And he did something he hadn’t done in decades, since he was just a little orphaned whelp and his brother had beaten him. He cried.

            “Nee-chan, are you getting up?” Souta’s voice called some twenty or so minutes later, just before he entered the room.

            The boy barged in, saw them cuddling in bed and his jaw dropped.

 _‘Oh shit,’_ Inuyasha thought, realizing that Souta could tell Kagome’s mother and grandfather everything.

            “Nee-chan. Inu-no-niichan…”

            He leaped out of the bed, heedless of his nakedness and grabbed the child, covering his mouth as he closed the bedroom door hastily.

            “Be quiet,” he hissed in the boy’s ear.

            “Mmmmm-mmmmm-ppppphhhhhh!!!”

            Kagome sat up in bed, looking guilty and shocked, holding her covers up to her chest to hide her own nudity.

            “Listen to me, boy. I’m not here and you didn’t see this. Got it?”

            Souta blinked at him with terrified eyes.

            “I’m going to get dressed and come in through the shoji. You will pretend to be surprised to see me. Right?”

            Souta agreed, eyes wide and head bobbing up and down so fast Inuyasha thought it was going to fall off.

            He let the kid go, fully prepared to have to deal with the repercussions of him running out and calling the household. What Souta actually did shocked him.

            “Inu-no-niichan,” he whispered loudly, hugging him around the neck. “I am so glad to see you. Nee-chan was so  ** _sad!_** ”

            “Eh?” ‘ _What the fuck? Does this kid not have eyes?? I’m fucking naked here!’_

            “She cried and cried and said you were never coming back.”

            “Yeah, well, she should know by now that I will  ** _always_**  come back,” he told the boy loud enough to make sure Kagome got his emphasis.

            Kagome had the good grace to blush.

            “Okay. I’m gonna get dressed and come in through the shoji.”

            “And I’ll pretend to be surprised to see you,” Souta reiterated, pulling back.

            “Right.”

            “Okay. See you downstairs nee-chan!”

            The boy ran out of the room and he turned to Kagome.

            “Think he figured out what was going on?”

            Kagome shrugged and gave him a shy smile. “I’m not sure. He’s in fifth grade. I’m not sure how much kids his age know these days.”

            He looked at her and the humor in their situation struck them, and they both started to laugh softly.

            “The look on Souta’s face when you jumped out of bed,” she said, snickering.

            He nodded. “Yeah. Gave him quite a view, didn’t I.”

            “Well, now he knows what greatness looks like.”

            He snorted, but inwardly he was very pleased.  _‘Greatness, eh? Tell me again what I have done to deserve this woman?’_

            He stood and retrieved his clothes, glad that they were mostly dry.

            “I’ll see you downstairs, then?” he asked hopefully.

            She nodded. “I just have to feed Yukio and get dressed.”

            “Okay.”

            Once he was dressed, he gave her a quick kiss and hopped out of the window. He counted to twenty, then strode in through the shoji finding Kagome’s mother and grandfather in the kitchen with Souta.

            “Yo,” he said.

            “Inuyasha,” Mama greeted.

            “Inu-no-niichan! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you!” Souta exclaimed loudly. “Where have you been? Kagome has missed you soooo much!”

            He froze, eye twitching. _‘Okay, kid, that’s enough!’_  “Eh? Where’ve I been? Where I always am,” he replied testily.

            “I must admit I was rather curious when Kagome returned with Yukio and you were not with her,” Mama commented leadingly with thinly veiled ire.

            “Bah! I can’t be with her all the time,” he scoffed. ‘ _Shit. Shit shit shit! How much did Kagome tell her?’_

            “Hmmm, and you’re sure it has nothing to do with a former love of yours who happens to still be walking around?”

            He swallowed hard as Mama came close to him.

             _‘Shhhhhiiiittttt... I’m dead. Kagome will find me in little pieces at the bottom of the well.’_

            “Let me give you a little advice, Inuyasha,” Mama whispered sweetly.

            “Eh?”

            “Stop hurting my daughter.”

            He gulped and managed a small nod. The woman gave him a wolfish smile and moved away, returning to her preparation of breakfast.

            “Ummm, I’ll go see about Kagome...” he stammered and made a hasty retreat out of the room.

             _‘Whew. She can be scary..._ ’ he thought as he hurried up the stairs.

            “Kagome,” he said, entering the room and walking in on her feeding Yukio.

            “Hmm? I thought I was going to meet you downstairs.”

            “Yeah, well, your mother...” He trailed off.

            Her eyes opened wide in understanding. “Oh. Yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

            He sat next to her, smiling to himself at her lack of modesty around him.  _‘Well, it’s not like I haven’t seen all of her, repeatedly.’_

            “She’s your mom. It’s her job to protect you. Even from heartless, cruel bastards like me.”

            Her face fell and grew sad. “You aren’t heartless and cruel. In fact, it’s because you’re not heartless and cruel that you’re having so much trouble choosing between Kikyou and me. You don’t want either of us to be hurt.”

            He took her hand and looked into her eyes.  _‘Don’t you know that it’s you I love, Kagome? And my trouble is I don’t know how to choose you without breaking my promise to Kikyou or abandoning her.’_

            “Kagome, I’m sorry about what happened in Kaede’s hut. I didn’t mean it. You and the pup... you’re never burdens to me.”

            The pup made his ‘switch me now’ noise and Kagome put him to the second breast. He smirked. ‘ _Pup’s got her trained already...’_

            “But we are burdens to you, Inuyasha. I know it. Yukio is loud and he slows us down because we have to stop and feed him all the time, and I can’t fight as well with him because his weight throws me off balance. And Sango has already said she is going to stop traveling. Miroku will probably stop coming with us the closer it gets to the baby’s birth time. Hunting shards is going to be a lot more difficult with us from now on. Maybe you  ** _should_**  go with Kikyou.”

             _‘What?! And leave you? Leave the pup? I could barely stand to be away from you for four days!’_  “Stop saying stupid things. I’m not going with Kikyou. I’m staying with you and that’s final.”

            “But the shards...”

            “Naraku is dead. Any youkai left are small fry compared to him, no matter how many shards they might manage to get. We’ll just find them, kill them and take their shards. I’m not worried about the shards,” he replied truthfully.

            She blinked at him. “Really? Then why?...”

            He sighed. “I just don’t like being idle. I like having something to  ** _do_**. Without something to occupy my time, I get bored.”

            She giggled and looked down at Yukio. “I think you’re going to regret ever saying that once he gets older. I can tell that life is never going to be boring with him around.”

            “Keh. Life’s not boring with  ** _you_**  around.”

            That earned him one of her brilliant smiles and he grinned.

            “But just because I’m not worried about the shards doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking for them. When can we go back, Kagome?”  _‘I’ll give her the option of telling me when she wants to go back, and give it to her... as long as  it’s not **too**  long a stay...’_

            She blinked at him. “Ummm... tomorrow?”

            His grin widened.  _‘One more night alone with her in her bed... during her most infertile time.’_  “Okay.”

            “Can you watch Yukio while I’m at school?”

            He nodded. “Sure. Should I bring him to you at lunchtime?”

            “Yes, if you would. I’ve been pumping my milk and leaving him and a bottle with Mama, but she says he doesn’t like it much and he cries a lot.”

             _‘Pumping? I wonder how she does **that**?’_  “Well, he would. Your mother is still a strange scent to him.”

            She nodded. “I know, but it wasn’t like I had any choice. I couldn’t bring him to school with me.”

            “Yeah,” he agreed. “But I’m here now and I’ll take care of the pup.”

            She leaned against him. “I know, and I’m so glad.”

            He put his arm around her and held her close, nuzzling into her hair.  _‘Not nearly as glad as I am.’_

He held her until Yukio was finished eating, then waited for her to get dressed so they could both go down to breakfast. She put Yukio in a new blue ‘t-shirt,’ his diaper and a pair of socks, which he hated and kept trying to kick off. He silently promised the pup that he would remove the horrible torture devices from his poor feet as soon as Kagome had left for school. Then they went downstairs to eat and joined the rest of the family in the kitchen.

            In short order, Kagome and Souta went off to school, Mama left to do her daily shopping and Jii-chan went to tend to his shrine duties, leaving Inuyasha alone with the pup. Overjoyed at being back with his family again, he decided to take Yukio for a little trip into the Goshinboku, leaping up into the high branches and taking them as far as they could safely go. There he sat with Yukio in his lap, surveying all of Tokyo that they could see, and enjoying the swaying motion of the branches in the breeze. Together they took off the hated socks and tossed them into the wind, and Yukio laughed as they watched the little white tubes of cloth fly away.

            He even played a game of ‘toss the pup;’ lightly flinging him into the air and then leaping up to catch him. Yukio was scared the first couple of times, but soon learned to appreciate the feel of the wind in his ears and began to laugh with glee. Inuyasha tossed him until he squealed once too loudly and killed his poor hanyou hearing.

_‘Pup, you have **got**  to learn that something that high-pitched  **hurts!** ’_

            Dutifully, he took Yukio to Kagome’s school at exactly lunchtime, and she came up to the roof to nurse him. She noticed the missing socks and gave him a look, but he feigned innocence. Afterwards, he took Yukio building hopping, tucking the pup to his chest with his head sticking out of the carrier and facing forward so he could see ahead as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

            “See this, pup. This is your strength. You’ll be able to do this when you’re older. All these weak, slow humans, they can’t even see us. You’ll be able to jump higher and move faster than any of them could ever dream of doing without one of their damn mash-eenes.”

            By the time they got back to the shrine, Yukio was falling asleep so Inuyasha took him upstairs to Kagome’s bedroom and settled down with him on Kagome’s bed. The pup snuggled close to his chest, one fist grabbing a handful of his father’s red haori and went to sleep. Inuyasha followed him into dreamland not long after.

            A few hours later, he was the first to wake, his internal body clock telling him it was almost time for Kagome to return from school. Next to him, Yukio snuffled and made rousing noises. For an inu-youkai pup he was fairly vocal, giving more credence to his belief that the pup would be talking soon. Technically, however, the pup was already talking, just not in a language understood by humans. The guttural inu-youkai tongue of growls, yips and barks was instinctual, and Yukio was speaking it more and more clearly.

            He made a noise that could best be translated into human words as ‘leader-male’ which was the pup’s term for him, as well it should be because he was the alpha male of their little pack and the pup knew it. Knowing one’s place within the pack hierarchy was essential to survival, and pups learned early on where they fit in the pecking order. They were close to the bottom, although protected by the blanket of ‘pupness’ which earned them forgiveness for almost any transgression provided they groveled sufficiently. Knowing  ** _who_**  needed to be groveled to was also essential to survival, and Yukio had learned very quickly that ‘leader-male’ was the supreme grovelee.

            Pups, of course, were also protected by their mothers, who were usually higher in the pecking order than even the alpha male, and some of those mothers could be downright vicious. Kagome, he had seen, would sooner wipe an enemy off the face of the earth than tolerate anyone who threatened her pup.

            On their last shard hunt two weeks ago, Miroku, Shippou and Kirara had joined them to follow a lead on a serpent youkai with a shard. The serpent youkai made the mistake of targeting Kagome because she carried a hanyou infant, and she had single-handedly ripped it to pieces with three over-powered purifying arrows fired in quick succession. Really, he hadn’t even gotten the chance to get a swing in with Tessaiga before the damn thing was dead, and Kagome had its shard in her little jar. It was all very anti-climactic for him. All those weeks of nothing and the promise of their first fight in over a month, and he hadn’t even been able to get one good whack in before it was all over.

            Miroku, however, had been impressed with the strength of Kagome’s arrows.

            “Ahh, Kagome-sama. I am glad to see that you still have your miko powers,” the houshi had commented as they traveled back to the village.

            “Huh? Why wouldn’t I have them?” Kagome had asked from her place on Inuyasha’s back.

            “Because of your relationship with Inuyasha,” Miroku had replied.

            Of course everyone knew about the change in their relationship. The whole damn village had known they were sleeping together within the first day.

            “Yeah, what about it?”

            “Well... you are no longer a shrine maiden,” had been the answer, with the emphasis on ‘maiden.’

            “Huh? Oh… Well, that’s stupid. Kikyou still has her powers and she’s dead. Are you trying to tell me you thought my powers had more to do with me being a virgin and less to do with say… me actually  ** _breathing_**?” she had snapped peevishly, making her ‘ride’ lower his ears.

            “Well, I suppose if you put it that way… Perhaps it is not true purity but purity of heart then,” Miroku had tried valiantly.

            It hadn’t worked.

            “Uh huh. Yeah right. And Kikyou’s got  ** _such_**  a pure heart. I mean, she’s only tried to kill me… and drag Inuyasha to Hell… and helped Naraku by giving him all those Shikon fragments. And don’t forget she stays undead by filling up her fake body with the  ** _souls of dead girls_**. Now me, I’ve never tried to kill innocent people, never tried to drag anyone to Hell. I certainly didn’t willingly help that bastard Naraku, resulting in his being able to spawn detachments and causing the deaths of god knows how many people. And I’m still among the living. But hey, I’ve had sex, so that makes Kikyou soooo much purer than me. You  ** _are_**  joking, right?”

            Inuyasha had grimaced and kept his head down, offering a tentative sniff.  _‘Yep, just come out of heat. She’ll start bleeding any day now. Monk, you should read the signs and stay out of her way before she tears you to pieces with those claws,’_  he had thought, not for the first time wishing that stupid humans had noses that could smell these changes and know when to shut the fuck up.

            “Inuyasha? Do you have any insights?” Miroku had asked.

             _‘Oh no, bouzu. I am not helping you. I want my head and my balls to stay right where they are, thank you very much.’_

            “How about: Kagome is strong and grows stronger every day, and her power has nothing to do with purity and everything to do with the strength of her heart,” he’d said.

            “Good answer,” Kagome had praised, snuggling her cheek into the back of his shoulder.

_‘Heh. I know my woman, bouzu.’_

            Miroku had wisely stayed quiet about the subject for the rest of the trip home.

            :Leader-male,: Yukio said again, bringing him out of his memory.

            He grunted back what amounted to a, :Yeah, what?:

            The pup snuffled into his chest. :Mother-female?:

            He knew Kagome wasn’t there, but ought to be. Pups had no real sense of the passage of time. Like human babies, their world existed of only the ‘now’ with no past or future.

            :Soon,: he answered.

            :Hungry.:

            :Yeah, I know.:

            :Food?:

            :Mother-female comes soon.:

            :Hungry.: He added an extra whine for emphasis so Inuyasha would know he was starving. Considering he was quite plump and well-fed, ‘leader-male’ wasn’t buying it.

            :Wait.:

            Another snuffle and whine, and a little squirm. :Hungry. Wet.:

            Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Yes, the pup needed to be changed but he was hoping if he held out long enough, Kagome would get home and do it.

            :I know.:

            :Hurts. Wet. Cold.:

            With a sigh, he got out of bed and changed the pup, trying very hard not to inhale until he’d dropped the soiled diaper out the bedroom window. Let Kagome deal with it when she got home.

            :There. Dry,: he told the pup, putting him a new diaper.

            :Hungry.:

             _‘This again...’_  :Wait.:

            :Mother-female?:

            :Soon.:

            :Hungry.:

            :I know.:

            :Food?:

            :No! Quiet!: He added an extra growl just to prove he meant business. Yukio immediately groveled.

            :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.:

            Inuyasha sighed again and cuddled him. :Forgiven.:

            A minute later...

            :Hungry.:

_‘Aww, damn...’_

            :Food?:

            He caught the scent of Kagome and knew he was saved. The bad part was Yukio caught her scent at the same time he did.

            :Mother-female? Mother-female! Mother-female! Mother-female! Food! Hungry! Hungry! Food, food, food!:

            :Yes, okay! Mother-female comes.:

            :Food! Food! Food!:

            :Will you shut up!:

            :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. FOOD!:

            He picked up the pup and carried him down the stairs to meet Kagome as she came in the door. When Yukio saw his mother, he went into full cry.

            :MOTHER-FEMALE! HUNGRY!!:

            Kagome, of course, was unable to understand the words, but the message was loud and clear. She gave Inuyasha a dour look and held up the dirty diaper by one dry corner, then she took the sniffling, grasping pup from his hands.

            “I’ll deal with you later,” she threatened, and took Yukio into the family room to feed him, dropping the soiled diaper into the laundry tub on the way.

            He followed her and gave her his haori as she sat down to nurse the pup. Yukio was already scrabbling at her shirt, trying to hurry things along.

            “Boy, he’s pushy today.”

            “You should think about weaning him, or giving him some solid food. I don’t think milk is enough for him anymore. He needs to start eating meat.”

            She nodded and gasped when Yukio started nursing.

            “Ouch.”

            “Did he bite?”

            “No. Just... he’s a little overeager.”

            “He’s been fussy since he woke up from his nap,” he explained.

            “That would explain it.”

            He thought a distraction might help her get her mind off the pup’s enthusiasm.

            “So, how was school?” he asked.

            She gave a deep sigh and began to tell him.

            After the pup was fed and quiet, she made him clean the dirty diaper as punishment for tossing it out the window. Then he took hold of Yukio while she started on her homework until dinner time. After dinner, they sat with the rest of the family in the family room to watch some moving pictures on the TV-box, and later he played some ‘video games’ with Souta. Sometime during the evening, Kagome went back upstairs to finish her homework, and he joined her in the bedroom after he was finished playing with Souta.

            In anticipation of engaging in some non-sleep related activities, he put Yukio in his bassinet, telling him to stay and be quiet. The pup obeyed after only a token protest. Both his and Kagome’s scents were all throughout the room so Yukio knew they were in the ‘den’ and perfectly safe. Once the pup was secured out of the way, he began the seduction of his lover, coaxing her into bed with him. After a few half-hearted threats to ‘sit’ him if he didn’t let her finish her homework, she finally put her books aside and moved to studying his body: a subject he was more than willing to allow her to continue educating herself in.

            Two hours and five climaxes later: two for him and three for her, they were ready to settle down and sleep for the night. Kagome retrieved Yukio from his bassinet on her way back from cleaning up in the bathroom, and brought him to the bed with her where Inuyasha was already waiting. She fed him and changed him, then put him in a one-piece sleeper which he hated because it had feet. She ended up taking him out of it and putting him in just a long t-shirt.

            Ready for bed, they snuggled together under the covers with Kagome’s head on his shoulder and Yukio tucked against her side but laying on top of his ribcage. Exhausted from her long day, Kagome was the first to drift off, a murmured ‘I love you’ on her lips. He, however, stayed awake, still wound up from their lovemaking and the fact that they had made up after their fight. Being without her those four days had been agony and he still wasn’t entirely convinced that he wasn’t dreaming her forgiveness. If he closed his eyes and slept, he might find himself still back in the Sengoku Jidai: Kagome and pup-less when he woke up.

            Sometime after Kagome fell asleep, Yukio woke and started crawling upwards until his little head was tucked under his chin and his body was draped on his chest.

            :Leader-male,: the pup snuffled sleepily.

            :What?:

            One little hand reached out to touch Kagome’s sleeping face. :Mother-female.:

            :Yeah, she’s here too.:

            Yukio nuzzled into his neck, sniffing and curling his hands into the locks of his long, silver hair. He reached up and placed one hand across the pup’s back, cuddling him.

            :Mother-female. Leader-male. Pack. Den. Safe. Home,: Yukio mumbled.

            :Yeah.:

            Under his chin, Yukio sighed contentedly and went back to sleep.

             _‘Pack. Den. Safe. Home. Yeah, pup. You got that right.’_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

 

Kagome pulled aside the reed mat that served as the door of Miroku and Sango’s hut, and quietly entered. Then she pulled the door closed behind her, taking extra care to make sure that no one could peep into the dwelling. The hut itself was cozy and had two rooms: the main room and a separate room for sleeping that Miroku and Sango used while Kohaku had his futon in the main room. Shippou slept in the main room too when he wasn’t with Kaede or Inuyasha and her, but he curled up on blankets piled in the corner.

            All four of the hut’s primary occupants were there, but it was the visitor to the hut who brought her through the door. Inuyasha sat on the far side, furthest away from the entrance, holding a human Yukio in his lap, his black hair and dark eyes clearly visible even in the dim light. She came over to sit beside him after greeting her friends and rubbed her son’s back comfortingly.

            “He’s confused,” Inuyasha told her as Yukio made little noises of distress.

            She nodded. “It’s only the second time he’s been with us on a Full Moon.”       

            “He’s better this time than last. This time he didn’t start bawling at sunset,” he replied, even as Yukio turned to look at his mother, reaching for her.

            Kagome lifted her son into her arms, cooing to him.

            “It’s okay, baby. I know you smell and feel different, but you’re still you. Someday you’ll understand all about hanyous and how they have human times.”

            “Have some dinner, Kagome-chan,” Sango offered, handing her a bowl of fish and rice.

            “Thank you, Sango-chan,” she replied and accepted the food with a grateful nod.

            Her friend gave her a questioning look, and she replied with a silent signal that meant ‘later.’ Since her and Inuyasha’s return to the Sengoku Jidai late that morning, she hadn’t had any opportunity to talk to Sango and tell her what had happened between her and Inuyasha. Sango had been out with Kohaku on one of the boy’s long walks while she had been reacquainting herself with Kaede and spending time with Shippou. Then Miroku had come to find her and Inuyasha to remind them that Yukio’s human night was that evening, and to offer his hut as sanctuary.

            Since Kaede was the village miko and the closest thing they had to a doctor, Inuyasha could not be assured that no one would discover his secret if he stayed in her hut on the night he lost his hanyou power. Miroku had been offering his and Sango’s home as a safe place for Inuyasha to wait out the New Moon since the hut had been completed. When he found out that Yukio’s night came when the moon was full, he extended the offer to those nights as well.

            So by the time Sango had returned with Kohaku, Kagome had already been back in the village for several hours and Inuyasha was sitting in her hut talking with Miroku, hiding Yukio from the eyes of the villagers. Kagome knew the pregnant woman must have dozens of questions, and she was happy to answer them… just not in front of Inuyasha. In truth, she suspected that their ‘girl talk’ would have to wait until morning because she was fairly certain Inuyasha would want to go to the den tonight.

            The den. While she had been able to prevent him from building a house for her, she had  ** _not_**  been able to stop him from making what amounted to a private love nest in the forest. Since she refused to engage in any sexual activity in Kaede’s hut, and making love out in the open forest left them vulnerable and exposed, not to mention distracted from any approaching threats to them or Yukio in his sling, they needed a safe place for their trysts. Inuyasha had provided that place in the form of a den.

            It was a true den, dug out of the earth. He had carved it into a small hillside in the forest, close to the stream where she liked to bathe. The entrance was almost completely obscured by brush and foliage, and he lined the front with rocks to keep out the rain. Inside it was spacious enough for the two of them to move around comfortably but not quite high enough for them to stand. There was a small fire pit by the door, and a built-in bassinet molded from the earth for Yukio at the very back. The floor was pounded smooth and the ‘sleeping space’ was covered with a thick layer of buckwheat straw which he kept clean and fresh so it always smelled of sweet hay. Blankets and a couple of old futons he’d scrounged by calling in a couple of favors from villagers who owed him for saving their lives, or in trade for firewood or game, lay on top of the straw- creating a thick, comfortable, sweet-smelling bed.

            His design of the small space gave her a number of insights into what any house he built would be like, and she knew that if she ever did let him build it, it would be the equivalent of a modern marvel. He’d taken elements from her house in Tokyo and incorporated them into the den, creating what could only be described as built-in larders and cubby hole dressers- all formed from packed earth and rock. There were spaces for everything: wood, tinder, clothing, food, even her books and a flat space for studying. Natural light was let in through the main entrance and five ledges were carved into the walls for lamps if it was too dark. There was even a tiny spring that seeped fresh water into a stone-lined basin that then shunted the excess out of the den via a bamboo tube that served as a drain.

            Because it was underground, it maintained a steady temperature and was readily warmed by a small fire and their own body heat. Air vents were strategically placed to reduce drafts while providing ventilation, and a door made of branches and leaves attached to a reed mat could be placed over the entrance to keep in the warmth. In fact a space Kagome had been worried would be quite cold and damp had proved to be anything but; creating a warm, cozy and intimate place where she and Inuyasha could be alone without threat of being disturbed.

            The den was an architectural wonder, and a testament to his skill and intelligent mind. It was no mere hole in the ground, but a tiny efficiency apartment a little larger than about half the size of her bedroom in the Modern Era with all the amenities of home- well, most of them anyway. There was no indoor plumbing and no hot running water, but she was sure if he’d been given enough time, he would have figured  ** _something_**  out.

            Everything was geared to provide for her comfort and safety, and that of their son’s. Inuyasha had done his best to anticipate her needs and address them outright while also satisfying his need to create a secure and easily defensible haven for his ‘family.’ Without smoke from the fire to give away its location, the den was almost invisible simply by virtue of being right out in the open. Few would give the hillside with its cover of brush and scrub trees a second glance. In fact, although the villagers knew Inuyasha would take his lady into the forest on a regular basis, only Kaede, Shippou, Miroku and Sango knew the den’s location.

            She and Inuyasha spent at least every third night in the den, and she was pretty sure he’d snuck away sometime during the day to make sure no interlopers had tried to lay claim to it, and also to freshen the buckwheat and air it out from being empty while they were in her time. She fully expected him to take her and Yukio there as soon as they were finished eating dinner.

            “Ah, Kagome-sama, now that we are all here, I have news of a possible shikon fragment,” Miroku announced, bringing her out of her thoughts.

            “Eh? Why didn’t you say something earlier, bouzu?” Inuyasha grumbled.

            “Because Kagome-sama was not here, and because you could do nothing until tomorrow unless you wanted to put your infant at risk,” the ex-monk replied mildly.

            “Feh!”

            “Where did you hear there was a fragment, Miroku?” Kagome asked.

            “Two days ago some travelers on their way to Edo passed this way. As always, I am eager for news of other places outside of this village so I went to see them. They spoke of a boar youkai terrorizing the lands east of here that was proving exceptionally hard to kill.”

            “Hmmm. Sounds like a shikon shard to me,” Kagome agreed.

            Inuyasha slapped his palm with his fist. “Right. We’ll go in the morning.”

            “I’ll be staying here,” Sango said regretfully. “It’s time for me to stay close to home. I don’t want to risk the baby if I get into a fight.”

            “I think that’s wise, Sango-chan,” Kagome answered sympathetically.

            The taijiya nodded and let out a wistful sigh. “I know. But I will miss all of the excitement. You must tell me everything when you get back. I’ll be so bored here knowing you’re out there.”

            Kagome patted Yukio and smiled. “Just wait until you have one of these. You won’t have time to be bored.”

            Yukio gave a burble and snuffled at her. She cuddled him and rubbed his head, missing his puppy ears.

            “Somehow I don’t think it’s quite the same,” Sango commented.

            “I’ll be going with you,” Miroku said.

            “Me too!” Shippou added.

            “Miroku? Are you sure?” Kagome answered.

            He nodded. “It is still four months before the baby comes. It is safe for me to leave. Besides, Kohaku is more than capable of protecting Sango.”

            Kagome looked at the troubled teen and wondered if Miroku’s decision had less to do with searching for a shard and more to do with him trying to coax the boy back to the land of the living. Kohaku hardly spoke and his haunted brown eyes were windows to his tortured soul. Maybe having his sister and unborn niece or nephew to look after would give the young man a purpose, and help him start to overcome the horror he had lived through.

            “Kirara will be here as well,” Sango said. “And it isn’t like I can’t protect myself if I have to. I just don’t want to go looking for trouble.”

            She nodded that she understood. Part of her didn’t like taking Yukio on the shard hunts with them, but Inuyasha refused to leave him behind and with good reason. Hanyous were targets, especially infants, and Inuyasha didn’t trust anyone but himself and Kagome to protect their son. Besides, being a hanyou actually made him a much better traveler than a normal human baby. He was stronger, less vulnerable and he knew when to be quiet and still.

            “It’s decided then,” Inuyasha announced. “We’ll leave as soon as Kagome and I get back from the den.”

            “You’re going there tonight?” Sango asked, casting a glance at her.

            Inuyasha snorted. “Of course.”

            She nodded to Sango, telling her that she was fine with going to the den for the night. The taijiya gave her an incredulous look as if to say that she was far more tolerant and forgiving than Sango herself would be.

             _‘I know. You’d have dropped him off a cliff by now. But I’m not you, and I love this man. And I know how badly he feels. If you’d seen him cry in my arms two nights ago, you’d feel differently too,’_  she thought, giving Sango a soft look.

            Sango’s silent response to that amounted to a: ‘I’d have refused him until his balls fell off before I’d have let him touch me again.’

            She gave her dear friend a knowing smile.

            “Oi! What are you two up to?” Inuyasha complained, looking at the two of them.

            “Nothing,” Kagome replied innocently.

            He frowned. “You were looking at each other strangely. Is it some weird woman thing?”

            “Yes,” Sango answered. “I was asking her how she could accept you back into her bed so quickly when I would have made you wait until your parts turned blue before I let you back in.”

            Inuyasha blushed furiously and stammered an unintelligible response. Kagome giggled.

            “Woman, what’s made you so bold!” the adult hanyou demanded.

            Sango shrugged. “Those hor-oh-moan things Kagome-chan keeps telling me about. I feel oddly… free now.”

            “Keh! Free? Bouzu, is your woman getting away from you? You’re letting her run her mouth everywhere. What kind of a man of the house are you? You ought to rein her in before she thinks she’s the leader here,” Inuyasha scoffed.

            Miroku gave him a patient look while Shippou just gaped and shook his little head in disbelief.

            “You really are simple minded,” the kit said.

            “Sango has her own mind and I love her for it. I did not expect her to give up her opinions and become a typical wife when we married. Don’t tell me you do not do the same with Kagome-sama,” the houshi replied.

            Inuyasha cast her a guilty glance and she returned it with a look that said very clearly: ‘If you ever want to have sex with me again, you  ** _will_**  answer appropriately.’

            “Ummm… ahhh…” he stuttered.

            “Thought so,” Miroku commented.

            “Sheesh, what a guy. I still don’t know what Kagome sees in you,” Shippou sighed.

            “Oi!”

            “Inuyasha,” she warned, stopping him in mid-swing as he tried to pound the kit on the head.

            He snarled, but dropped his hand, grumbling. She gave him an approving nod and turned to her dinner.

            When they were finished eating, she helped Sango clean up the remainder of the meal and the soiled bowls, ignoring Inuyasha’s impatient looks.

             _‘Hmmph, after a comment like that, I **am**  gonna make you wait. Chauvinistic jerk.’_

            Then she gave Yukio his dinner, taking Inuyasha’s suggestion and supplementing her milk with a little bit if rice and fish that she’d saved for him when he was done nursing. She let the infant take his time, not rushing him as he fed and letting him eat at his own pace. He didn’t suck as heartily when he was in human form and he had a little more gas so it took him longer to finish his meal. She cooed and rocked him, patting his bottom and offering her breasts a couple of times to make sure he was completely finished before she even  ** _thought_**  about leaving the hut.

            By the time she finally was ready to go, Inuyasha was huffing and fuming, but she was fairly certain she’d gotten her point across. When they left the hut, he took hold of her firmly but not roughly and she pinned him with a warning look that had him flattening his ears and backing off. She gave him the cold shoulder all the way into the forest and by the time they finally reached the den, she had him making all the gestures she’d come to recognize as submission.

_‘Good. So long as you know **your**  place.’_

            He went ahead of her, sniffing the entrance of the shelter and giving her a nod that it was safe. Crouching down, she passed through the low hanging opening and waited for Inuyasha to light a fire so she could see. The flames illuminated a den that had obviously gone unused for several days. Even with the fresh straw and fluffed bed, she could easily tell that this was the first time anyone had been there for a while.

            “I… I couldn’t stay in here,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “This is our place and… and you were gone. I slept in my old tree and stayed as far away from here as possible.”

            She nodded to him and took off her shoes, placing them in the cubby by the entrance made just for footwear. Then she knelt down on the bed as Inuyasha pulled the door over the entrance, leaving a hole for the smoke to escape, and watched him as he went through his ritual of settling into the den, sniffing the perimeter, checking the air vents, inspecting the lamps and fixtures, and finally coming to join her on the bed. His other ritual was to undress and place his clothes in one of the cubbies for clothing, and he watched her in askance as he removed his haori. When she did not give him any reason to believe his actions were unwelcome, he stripped the rest of the way and came to lie beside her on his stomach with his head pillowed on his arms as he blinked at her in silent apology.

            Kagome had half a mind to give him one good whack across his bare backside as punishment for being such a male chauvinistic pig, but decided that he’d groveled and begged forgiveness as much as she could expect from him. Besides, naked Inuyasha by firelight was a true sight to behold, and she wouldn’t mar that perfect flesh for anything. She put Yukio down between them on the bed. Even without his heightened senses, he recognized the den as a place of comfort and safety, and he relaxed immediately. Within minutes he was asleep and she moved him to his bassinet.

            She waited until the den was warmed up from the fire before removing her own clothes and putting on a nightshirt. She wasn’t about to sleep in the nude when Inuyasha was still ‘in the doghouse’ so to speak. The object of her affections snuggled up and nibbled at her throat, humming happily as she settled down next to him and got under the blankets.

            “You’re not mad then?” he asked suddenly, breaking the silence of the space with his uncertain voice.

            “Oh, I’m mad, but I think you’ve gotten my message.”

            He flattened his ears and dropped his head. “I’m sorry.”

            She sighed and rubbed his ears affectionately. “I know. You’re just a product of this era. You think women are just useful for breeding more sons.”

            He gasped and reared back in abject disgust. “I do not!” he spat vehemently. “I would never… never…”

            He trailed off, sputtering and she had to laugh at his antics.

            “It’s alright, Inuyasha. But I am a product of the modern era and in my time women have their own minds. If you’re going to be with me, you’re going to have to accept that,” she scolded gently.

            He sighed. “I know. I shouldn’t ask you to stop being yourself any more than you should ask me to stop being me. People who care about each other don’t ask the other person to change to suit them. You taught me that.”        

            “Inuyasha,” she breathed with pride.  _‘Okay, you’re getting back into my good graces. The chances of your getting laid tonight just doubled.’_

            He gave her a questioning look. “But, Kagome… in your time… you said that women don’t ask their men to build them houses. Is that good? If men know they don’t have to build a house what’s to keep them from using several women at once?”

            “Some do just that, and some women don’t mind. Most do though, and if they find out their man is two-timing them they will leave him. As for the other, a man will offer to build a house when he wants the woman to have his baby. In my time, a woman can keep from getting pregnant until she is ready for a baby,” she explained.

            “Your birth control.”

            She nodded, pleased that he remembered the term. “Exactly.”

            She saw him puzzling it out, his face intent with concentration. “So… when they are ready to have pups, the man will build a house.”

            “Sometimes. Sometimes the man builds a house before that, if it’s what both he and the woman want.”

            He gave her a sidelong glance. “But you don’t want me to build a house.”

            She closed her eyes and sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want you to build a house, Inuyasha. It’s that I want you to be free to live in it with me for as long as we both shall live, and I want that to be longer than the end of our quest.”

            He sighed too and gave her another look. “Kagome… Kagome can we talk about this?”

            She swallowed hard and nodded, and she wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed by her answer. After a few moments of pensive silence, he began to speak.

            “I know that I promised to protect Kikyou and yes… go to Hell with her…”

            Her heart sank and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep in the cry that gathered at the back of her throat. He saw her do this and hurried to continue.

            “But only  ** _if that was our fate_**. I always thought that my life was hers because she died for me, however… I died for her too, and… and Naraku is dead now and she is avenged. And… and she is nowhere near here. She has gone off on her own.”

            He paused, thinking again. She waited, holding her breath.

            “I know… I know that she comes back sometimes and she wants me to meet with her, but she’s had many opportunities to drag me to Hell and she hasn’t. I don’t know, but… she’s been different since you healed her. I… I think you healed more than Naraku’s miasma that time. I think maybe you healed her heart too or part of it at least. What I’m saying is I don’t think Kikyou wants to die anymore.”

            She released the breath she’d been holding and nodded. Then she spoke from her heart.

            “If that is so, then I am glad. I am happy to have been able to help her. I know there were those who thought I would be petty and not save her because she is in the way of you being with me. That made me angry because I’m not like that, and I would never let someone die because I was jealous. But if she no longer wants to die, what does that mean for me and you?”

            He looked away, his face uncertain. “I don’t know.”

            “What is to keep her from coming for you and making you keep your promise?”

            He began to look flustered so she cut him off before he could voice his thoughts. She really didn’t want to get into a fight with him, and she knew that was what would happen if he got irritated.

            “I’ve heard you tell her that her life is yours, and I know that she’s said your life is hers. In the end, she has a claim on you I can’t challenge. Unless you break that claim by telling her that you no longer honor it, you aren’t free to be with me. I don’t even know if she’d accept that even if you did tell her. And I know you still have feelings for her. She comes within sight of you and... and you get all nervous and unstable. You go to see her every single time regardless of my feelings and our circumstances.

            “For two years, I have lived in her shadow, knowing full well that I have no right to complain because I  ** _chose_**  to stay with you even though I knew how you felt. I couldn’t forget you and I wanted to be with you so I made this choice and I live with it. But things have changed drastically between us and our relationship has progressed so much. If you leave me now, I will lose… all that I have managed to create with you.”

            She shivered, closing her eyes and felt Inuyasha’s arms hug her tight, his warm breath on her neck.

            “Kagome…”

            “I’m… I’m terrified of what she will do, what she will think. When she sees Yukio and finds out that we’re sleeping together, she’s going to think I’m using the baby and sex to win you from her. I just know it. But I’m  ** _not_**. It… it just happened that way. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t ask that poor woman to carry her baby here and give him to us. I didn’t plan to seduce you into my bed. Making love to you was the most natural thing I’ve ever done, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about that night. It was beautiful and perfect. And I didn’t do it because I was thinking that I’d be one up on Kikyou if I did. I did it because I love you and I wanted to share myself with you in a way no one else ever had.”

            “I didn’t feel seduced. In fact I thought I was the one pushing you that night. After you… let me nurse from you, I just… I  ** _needed_** you,” he admitted.

            She covered his hands with her own as he pressed them to her abdomen. “I know. I needed you too.”

            She rolled to her back and he propped himself up on one elbow to look down at her. His eyes held all the love he had never voiced aloud, and she felt tears welling up in her own.

            “But I think… I think we may have made a mistake when we did this,” she whispered softly. “I think it has made things so much more complicated and difficult for the both of us.”

            He flattened his ears and gave her a distressed, horrified stare.

            “Kagome… do you… are you saying… are you telling me you want to stop?”

            He looked absolutely bereft and her heart cried out to him. “No. No I don’t want to stop, and that’s the worst of it. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. But… that will make things so much harder in the end.”

            “Why are you assuming that I’m going to leave you?” he asked suddenly.

            “Because… because you said… you said you’d go with… her.”

            “Maybe I’ll go with her.  ** _Maybe_**. That is not for certain.”

            Hope blossomed in her chest, small and fragile, but there.  _‘Is he saying…what I think he’s saying?’_

            “Inuyasha, are you saying that… you’ll choose me?”

            He looked seriously at her as if trying to decide on the right words. “I am saying that, when I am free, I will choose you.”

            “But Kikyou…”

            “Kikyou is dead.”

            His words shocked her, and to be honest, he looked a little shocked himself, as if he was surprised by his own admission.

_‘Oh, oh my God. He finally said it. He acknowledged that Kikyou is dead.’_

            “But you love her…”

            “I do,” he confirmed, and his answer confused her.

            “But…”

            “What? I can’t have room in my heart for you and her? She was my first love. I will always have feelings for her and want to protect her. She was and is very special to me. Does that mean I care for her more than you? No.”

_‘What? Is he… is he going to say it? Is he finally going to say it?’_

            “Inuyasha…”

            He stroked her hair tenderly. “I don’t want to go with Kikyou. Kikyou can’t be mother to the pup, and she can’t have pups of her own. Now that I know what it is like to have a mate and a family, I won’t give that up without a fight. I’ve made promises to you too Kagome, and to Yukio, and I intend to keep them.”

             _‘But you can’t do both,’_  she wanted to say.

            “My biggest fear is that I won’t be able to choose one without sacrificing the other. I couldn’t live knowing one of you had died because of me,” he admitted softly, holding her hand. “But… but Naraku is dead and Kikyou has gone off on her own. I don’t think she needs me to protect her anymore. Her greatest enemy is gone and she is free to live. I think that is what she’s doing, and she’s doing it without me.”

            “And are you okay with that, Inuyasha?”

            A small smile graced his lips. “Yes. Because it will mean that you will let me build you a house, and I will live in it with you and the pup, and pups of our own.”

            She smiled back and grabbed the opportunity to change the subject.  _‘I’m tired of talking about this. Inuyasha has said he will choose me if he can. I have to be happy with that because it’s all he can give me right now. Everything is in Kikyou’s hands. But will she set him free? I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just want to love him while I have him and not worry about the rest. It’s how I’ve lived the past two years, there’s no sense in trying to change it now.’_

            “Our pups? And how many were you planning on having, hm?”

            He gave her a heated look and a sexy smile. “Oh… two or three.”

            “Not ten or twenty like Miroku and Sango?”

            “Keh! He only said that so he wouldn’t have to worry about… what is it?... Birth control.”

            “I’m sure there’s birth control here. Women have always found ways to prevent pregnancy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sango or Kaede knew about a herb or tea that could keep a woman from getting pregnant,” she told him.

            “Heh, human women and their wily secrets. You wouldn’t need it if your weak noses could tell you when not to mate.”

            “Like with us?”

            His sexy smile turned into a sly grin, and he made a show of sniffing her. “Yeah,” he replied, a low rumble of pleasure escaping his throat. “And right now, you’re not in heat and won’t be going into heat for at least another eight days.”

            His nose at the juncture of her neck and shoulder sent little shivers of anticipation through her and she shuddered.

            “Inuyasha…”  _‘Yes. This. I’ll keep this as long as I can, and the rest doesn’t matter.’_

            His hand rubbed her abdomen just under her breasts. “So… am I forgiven?”

            “Hmmm?” she answered, sinking into his seduction willingly.

            “My runaway mouth,” he reminded.

            “Oh, that. Yes, you’re forgiven. Provided you don’t stop what you’re doing.”

            He shifted even closer and she could feel his fingers deftly undoing the buttons on her night shirt.

            “Is that my punishment?” he asked huskily. “To not stop?”

            “Mmmm hmmm.”

            “Then I won’t stop. I’ll keep going until you tell me you can’t take any more.”

            “Don’t forget we have a shard hunt tomorrow and we’ll need to rest sometime.”

            “Rest? Silly human. I’m a hanyou. I don’t need rest,” he cooed in her ear, his hands slipping into her opened shirt to caress her naked skin.

            “Yeah, but I do,” she replied, arching into his touch.

            “Don’t worry. I’ll carry you and you can rest on my back,” he told her, moving to cover her with his body. “I’ll have to because you won’t be able to walk.”

            “Is that a promise?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Good.”

 

********

 

            Morning came and Kagome woke to the sound of the forest birds singing in the trees outside the den. The fire had gone out making the two lamps Inuyasha had lit the only light or heat in the den, but she was cocooned in warmth because Inuyasha was spooned behind her, holding her possessively against him. Sometime during the night Yukio had crawled out of his earthen bassinet to cuddle with them under the blankets, and his little body was now tucked against her stomach, his head resting just under her breasts. He was a hanyou again, his hair silver and his puppy ears back on his head. Dimly she wondered if he’d nursed during the night. If he had, she hadn’t been aware of it.

             _‘Not that I would be after… **that** ,’_ she thought, remembering Inuyasha’s enthusiastic lovemaking. Her body was still tingling from the pleasure he had given her, the thrill of their joining and the ecstasy of being one with him in every way possible. At one point he had lifted her legs and curled her body up, driving so deeply into her she swore she could feel him hitting the back of her throat.  She mentally felt down to her nether regions and winced at the soreness there. ‘ _He wasn’t kidding. I probably **won’t** be able to walk. Horny bastard. He’ll probably just smirk and tell me he keeps his promises. I know he does. That’s what I’m afraid of.’_

            Not willing to allow herself to slide down into the depression she often felt whenever she thought about Inuyasha, Kikyou and her, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and concentrated on enjoying the feel of the two most important beings in her life snuggled next to her.

             _‘This is heaven.’_  Her smell wafted to her nose: the scent of sweat and sex.  _‘Now if only it was heaven with a hot bath. Now **that**  would be paradise.’_

She sighed and shifted a little. The movement woke both her hanyous. One responded by nuzzling her neck and nibbling at her earlobe. The other just grabbed breakfast.

            Inuyasha let out a low growl. “Meddling whelp,” he grumbled, but there was no real anger in his voice.

            She patted her son’s back. “Good baby. You saved me from the evil sex fiend.”

            “Evil sex fiend am I?” he repeated, giving her another light nip on her throat.

            “Yes, you are and I’m mad at you.”

            He pulled back and peered over her shoulder to look at her, his eyes showing true concern. “Mad at me? Why? What’d I do?”

            “You said I wasn’t going to be able to walk. I didn’t think you meant I wasn’t going to be able to walk for a  ** _week_**.”

            He gave her a lascivious grin, his eyes twinkling. “Hey, you can still  ** _feel_**  your legs can’t you?”

            She stuck out her tongue at him.

            “Tease,” he huffed.

            “Insatiable letch.”

            The grin got wider. “I am what you made me, woman.”

            “Oh, so your overactive sex drive is my fault now?” she asked, incredulous.

            “Of course. I never even acknowledged that I  ** _had_**  a sex drive until you came into my life. Now I have all those years of denial to make up for.”

            “And you’ve decided to do all your catching up in two months?”

            “Six at least!”

            She rolled her eyes. “I’m doomed.”

            He chuckled and kissed her, sighing happily. “Kagome. I’m glad. For a moment, I thought you really were mad at me.”

            “Hmmph,” she snorted.

            He snuffled into her hair and licked her neck. “Isn’t that whelp done eating?”

            “No. He just started. He hasn’t even asked for the second breast yet.”

            Her lover responded with a frustrated growl.

            “Besides, we have to get up anyway. We have a shard hunt, remember?”

            He gave a suffering sigh. “I remember. I’ll just have to wait until tonight.”

            “Tonight? We’re going to be camping out tonight.”

            “So?”

            “So? Miroku? Shippou?” she reminded.

            He shrugged. “Tree?”

            “Tree?”

            “We’ll just find a tree, or some other good place away from the others.”

            “Oh we will, huh?”

            “Hey woman, I’ve got eight days before you go into heat. I’m not about to waste them.”

            “You know, we  ** _could_** use birth control and not worry about it.”

            “What kind of birth control?”

            “Well, I could go back to my time and buy some condoms.”

            “Con-doms? What’s that?”

            “Um…” She stopped, trying to figure out a way to explain prophylactics. “Well, they’re these… sheaths that you put on before you make love and they catch the seed.”

            He blinked at her. “Sheaths that catch the seed,” he repeated, then his eyes opened wide. “Oh! You mean something I put on my…”

            He blushed furiously and she snickered.

            “Yeah,” she confirmed, making him blush more.

            He sputtered and she snickered again, letting him off the hook. “Never mind. I’ll ask Kaede if there’s a herb or something.”

            Yukio asked to be switched; actually he asked then switched himself. He’d been doing that for a few days as his upper body strength increased. Now Kagome just had to make sure the nipple was available and he moved himself over.

            “You said he talks,” she mentioned, changing the subject so he’d stop blushing.

            He blinked at her, then nodded. “Uh, yeah. Inu-youkai language. He’s talking pretty clearly these days.”           

            She frowned slightly. “I can’t understand him. It bothers me that I might be missing out on something.”

            “He’ll be talking in human words soon enough. Inu-youkai speech is pretty simple. Our sounds don’t say words as much as they convey ideas or emotion. The pup has no sense of place or time other than the pack and the present.”

            She listened eagerly, always fascinated by his knowledge of his demon half and its characteristics. He knew much more about his youkai side than he did his human one. It made her sad because it meant that youkai had been closer to him than his human family, which considering how often he had said he was a target until he was old enough to start fighting back, said a lot about humans’ treatment of him. Youkai had tried to destroy his body. Humans had tried to destroy his heart and soul. Sometimes she shuddered at how close they had come to succeeding.

             _‘And the world would never have known this sweet, brave, wonderful, compassionate being,’_  she thought sadly.

            “Can you teach me?” she asked suddenly.

            “Eh?”

            “Can you teach me your language so I can talk to him?”

            “I could, well, mostly. Your human voice and ears can’t make or hear some of the sounds. But why would you want to learn inu-youkai speech?”

            She gave him an irritated glare. “Because he’s my son and if he’s talking I want to be able to understand him.”

            He flinched but blinked at her. “Oh. Okay. Umm…”

            “Tell me how to say his name.”

            “He doesn’t have a name.”

            “Yes, he does.”

            “Not in inu-youkai. There’s no term for name in our tongue. Names are the individual’s scent and their title is one’s place in the pack. He calls me leader-male and you mother-female. He recognizes Sango and Miroku as pack-female and pack-male. Shippou he sees as pack-brother because he knows Shippou’s a pup too. It isn’t until we learn spoken words that we start to acknowledge names,” he explained.

            “So, what do I call him?”

            “Pup,” he said simply, shrugging.

            “Okay, how do I say that?”

            He made a low noise in the back of his throat. She repeated it. Yukio stopped eating and looked at them.

            “See, you’ve gotten his attention now.”

            The baby made a noise, and Kagome looked to Inuyasha. “What did he say?”

            “Mother-female.”

            She smiled and answered with the sound she’d just learned. Yukio blinked and replied with a small whine.

            “He said he’s hungry,” Inuyasha translated.

            Kagome giggled. “Always thinking of food aren’t you, my baby. How do I tell him he can go back to eating?”

            The adult hanyou made the noise and she repeated it. Yukio must have understood because he burbled and resumed nursing. Kagome gave Inuyasha a fond look.

            “Thank you.”

            He flushed. “It’s nothing, really.”

            “It means a lot to me.”

            He gave her a happy smile, preening under the praise, and she smiled.

            “I love you,” she told him.

            He gulped and kissed her. “Kagome.”

            For a moment she thought he’d say the words, but he didn’t and she let it go, not bothering to be angry about something she couldn’t change. For some reason, he felt he couldn’t tell her that he loved her and she had to respect that, even if she didn’t always understand his motives.

            They waited for Yukio to finish eating, then Kagome changed him and left him in Inuyasha’s care while she went to bathe in the stream. When she came back, she saw that Inuyasha had already freshened the den, airing it out and discarding some straw that had been crushed by their bodies overnight.

            “Ready?” he asked her.

            She nodded, picking up Yukio. “All we need to do is get the packs from Kaede’s hut and we’ll be able to go.”

            “Let’s go then,” he said, offering his back.

            She blushed a little, remembering what he’d said about carrying her, then she got on and he took them back to the village. Miroku, Sango and Shippou were already waiting for them at the miko’s hut, and their knowing looks made her blush again.

            “Good morning,” she greeted as Inuyasha set her down.

            “Good morning, Kagome-chan,” Sango said, Kirara also mewing a greeting from her place in the taijiya’s arms.

            “Good morning, Kagome-sama,” Miroku answered as Shippou hopped into her arms.

            “Kagome!” the kit said happily. “You’re late. We’ve been ready since dawn. Kaede’s already gone out to gather herbs for the day,” He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “What were you and Inuyasha doing?”

            “Shippou-chan!” she gasped, then sidestepped to save the kit from Inuyasha’s angry fist.

            “Oi!”

            Shippou swung over her shoulder and settled on her back, next to Yukio. The baby blinked at him and burbled.

            “Hi Yukio!”

            A gurgle was his answer.

            Inuyasha picked up the packs and handed Kagome her bow and arrows. Then they said their good-byes. Miroku hugged and kissed his wife, and Sango gave her a hug and told Inuyasha to behave himself on the trip. Shippou switched to Miroku’s shoulder, Kagome got back onto Inuyasha, and they set off to the east at a quick pace.

            They stopped around midday for lunch and to take care of Yukio. Inuyasha gave her more lessons in inu-youkai with Miroku picking up some of it as well, and Kagome was surprised to learn that Shippou already knew most of it because kitsune was similar. All in all, the day went quickly in pleasant company with everyone, Inuyasha included, in good spirits. Kagome mused on how much sex softened and settled the usually volatile and irritable hanyou, and decided that if she’d known how much it would improve his disposition, she’d have bedded him years ago. Miroku made a comment similar to her own thoughts and Inuyasha only thumped him once.

            Close to nightfall they made camp by a stream and Inuyasha fished for their dinner. He was still insisting that Kagome eat liver because she was still making milk, and fish liver was the easiest to come by. They were eating the fish he had caught when Kagome suddenly felt the unmistakable presence of a Shikon shard. Inuyasha noticed her stillness immediately and was on his feet.

            “What is it?” he asked, one hand on Tessaiga’s hilt.

            “Shards… two of them… coming at us with great speed…”

            Terror seized her and she gasped, realizing who it was.

            “Oh, oh no! Inuyasha! It’s Kouga!”

            They had only a moment to brace themselves before the whirlwind that was the youkai-wolf lord blew into their midst.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

           

            “Oi. Kagome. I thought I’d caught your pretty scent,” Kouga greeted, blowing right past Inuyasha and grabbing her hands the way he always did.

            She stammered nervously. “Kouga-kun…”

            The next series of events happened so quickly, she barely had time to register what was going on. Almost simultaneously, Inuyasha grabbed Kouga to rip him away from her and Kouga took a surprised sniff.

            “Bastard, you let go of her!” the hanyou ordered, throwing Kouga across the clearing.

            “Dog-shit, what have you  ** _done to_**   ** _my woman!?_** ” the wolf youkai roared, leaping up and coming at Inuyasha with both fists.

            Inuyasha was ready for it and dodged, swiping at Kouga’s back with his claws.

            “What? Smell me on her? Can’t stand the idea that you lost?!” he taunted.

_‘Oh no. Kouga knows Inuyasha and I have mated! They’re going to fight over me!’_

            The two angry males faced off, and Kagome was suddenly all too aware that the fight would most likely end in the death of one or the other.

            “Inuyasha…” she tried.

            “You stay out of this!” he demanded, unsheathing Tessaiga.

            “You worthless pile of dog-crap, how dare you touch Kagome?!”

            “Kouga-kun!” she begged.

            “Don’t worry, Kagome, I’ll kill this fucking half-breed and take you with me. He won’t touch you again.”

            “Over my dead body!” Inuyasha countered, attacking.

            Kouga leaped out of the way. “No problem!”

            Inuyasha roared and came at him again, brandishing Tessaiga. He missed when Kouga used his superior speed to dodge the blow while managing to land a punch to Inuyasha’s upper body, throwing the hanyou backwards.

            “I’ll kill you for touching my woman!”

            “She’s not your woman. She never was! Get that through your simple head, you pathetic wolf!” Inuyasha seethed, picking himself up and preparing to attack again.

            “Inuyasha!” she cried.

            “I said stay out of this!” he ordered.

            “Kagome-sama…” Miroku said, putting a hand on her shoulder and urging her out of the battle zone. “There is nothing you can do. Long have they been rivals. They must decide this in their own way.”

            Shippou hopped onto her shoulder. “Yeah. They’re both simple-minded guys who have to settle everything by fighting.”

            “But…”

_‘But Inuyasha could be killed. Or he could kill Kouga…’_

            Kouga slammed Inuyasha with a kick to his chest when the hanyou rushed him, knocking Tessaiga out of his hands and sending him crashing into a pair of trees. Kagome saw the trunks splinter and crack.

            “Heh, take that, dog-crap. You never were any match for me. I should have killed you years ago and claimed Kagome.”

            “What, you think I need a stupid  ** _sword_**  to kick your sorry ass?” Inuyasha snapped back, leaping to his feet and preparing to fight.

            “You don’t have a chance, fucking hanyou!”

            “Shut up and die already, stinking wolf! Sankon Tessou!”

            Inuyasha struck and Kouga dodged. However, Inuyasha had predicted that the wolf would try to feint to the left and kicked off with his left foot at the last second, throwing himself directly into Kouga’s path and landing a raking blow down the wolf youkai’s side. Kouga screamed in pain and rounded on him, slashing out with his own claws and ripping open Inuyasha’s shoulder. Both landed crouched on the ground, bloodied and panting heavily. Kouga put his hand to the wound in his side and licked his bloody fingers.

            “I’ll get you for that, dog-crap.”

            “Keh, I haven’t even begun to hurt you.”

            They both sprang at the same time, lashing out at each other with fists and claws, snarling and growling as they fought in earnest. Kagome had never seen them go at it with such intensity, and she was sickened by the ferocity and brutal violence of their combat.

             _‘They’re ripping each other to pieces!_ ’ she thought, horrified as each landed another blow to the other.

            They were both bleeding freely now from numerous wounds and were obviously equally matched. She had no idea who would win, and she feared the consequences of either being the victor. Then Inuyasha missed a strike and gave Kouga an opening. The wolf youkai slammed his fist into the hanyou’s abdomen, sending him crashing to his knees.

            “Inuyasha!!” she screamed, and her shout was joined by a frightened cry from Yukio in the sling around her shoulder.

            The cry stopped the fight for one tense moment as both fighters looked her way, and a new terror seized her as she remembered Inuyasha’s warning: ‘Kouga is very dangerous to this pup.’

_‘He’ll kill Yukio…’_

            She glanced around frantically. The original plan had been for Shippou to take the baby away to safety on Kirara, but the firecat had stayed in the village with Sango.

_‘And Miroku doesn’t have his Kazaana anymore.’_

            The houshi looked at her and she swore he could read her thoughts because he reached for the baby. “Give him to me. I still have my ofudas.”

            “And I’ll protect him too, Kagome,” Shippou added, his small face serious.

            “What is that caterwauling?! And that stench?!” Kouga demanded.

            She gasped, knowing she only had a split-second to decide what to do.

            “He unbalances you with his weight. You can’t use your arrows effectively,” Miroku reminded urgently.

            She quickly handed Yukio in his sling to her friend, trusting him to guard her infant with his life. Kouga saw her do it and his eyes narrowed.

            “What’s this?  ** _Another_**  stinking dog-turd?”

            Inuyasha picked himself up despite his belly wound and punched Kouga in the back while he was distracted.

            “Don’t turn your back on me, bastard.  ** _I’m_**  your opponent!”

            Kouga spun and let out a kick, but Inuyasha predicted the move and rolled out of the way.

            “It’s not yours. I can tell. Your stink may be all over it, but its blood smells different,” the wolf youkai sneered.

            “It’s none of your fucking business!” Inuyasha replied, taking another swipe with his claws. He grazed Kouga’s thigh, drawing more blood.

            “He’s an orphan! Both his parents are dead,” Kagome answered, hoping to play on Kouga’s sympathies and commitment to his pack. “I’m taking care of him.”

            “I tell you, Kagome, once you are my woman, I won’t let you pick up garbage someone else threw away!” Kouga responded, sending out another kick, which telegraphed off of a tree next to Inuyasha. He missed, but did prevent Inuyasha from reaching Tessaiga.

            “Garbage?! He’s a baby! His mother carried him all the way to the village with three arrows in her back! She stayed alive long enough to bring him to us and then she died!” Kagome yelled, her fists clenched in anger.

            “Why didn’t you just drown it?!”

            Kagome thought she was going to be sick.  _‘Drown… drown him?!’_

            “Drown him? How can you say such horrible things?!”

            “He’s a hanyou. Hanyous don’t deserve to live. Look at the weak assholes they grow up to be!” the wolf youkai taunted, ducking under another swipe from Inuyasha’s claws, spinning around and kicking the hanyou in the small of his back.

            “Inuyasha!!”

            Inuyasha hit the ground with a groan, but he was up almost instantly and back into the fray.

            “Sankon Tessou!” he roared, claws slashing down.

            Kouga jumped, narrowly missing getting sliced in half. “Heh, still slow as ever, dog-turd, but I may have to let you live. It sounds like Kagome has affection for that half-breed whelp. That filthy thing will have to stay with you when I take Kagome as my woman.”

            “How many times do I have to tell you?! She’s  ** _not your woman_**!”

            “How can I be? I’m a human! Our children would be hanyous!” Kagome added, her voice desperate and angry.

            “I wasn’t going to  ** _breed_**  with you! I would never bring a hanyou taint to my tribe. I would have gotten pups on a wolf youkai bitch, and killed any pups of ours,” Kouga explained, dodging another near miss. He was keeping himself between Inuyasha and the sword, refusing to allow the hanyou to get his blade.

            “K… Killed them?  ** _Killed them?_**  You would have killed our babies?!”

            “Of course. Hanyous are filthy half-breeds. If I had sired dog-turd, I would have slit his throat before he drew his first breath!”

             _‘Killed them. He would have killed them without a second thought,_ ’ she realized, the nausea rising up in her throat, only to be replaced by rage.  _‘And he would have expected me to let him! What kind of a woman does he think I am? That horrible beast!’_

            “Shut up and fight you wimpy bastard!” Inuyasha howled, slamming himself into the wolf youkai and sending them both sprawling.

            They were both up immediately, but now Inuyasha’s back was to Tessaiga and he could easily reach it.

            “Heh, why should I? You’re not worth my time, dog-shit. I’ll just take Kagome and go!”

            Kouga made a move towards where Kagome and the others were. Yukio was still crying and his howls could easily be heard. The wolf youkai set eyes on the baby in Miroku’s arms. Inuyasha grabbed Tessaiga and rushed to put himself between his pack and Kouga.

            “Bastard, you’re not getting anywhere near them!” he warned.

            “Heh, that’s what you think!” Kouga sneered and jumped over the hanyou to land right in front of Miroku, slapping a protesting Shippou away and sending the kit flying. The ex-monk didn’t even have time to throw a single seal before the wolf youkai had slammed him to the ground and snatched Yukio in his sling, ripping the handle cleanly in two. Then he leaped away, crossing to the other side of the clearing. It happened so fast, Kagome didn’t even have time to react, and her heart lodged in her throat when she saw Yukio in Kouga’s grasp.

            “Yukio!” she cried.

            Inuyasha was paralyzed. If he attacked now with Kaze no Kizu, Yukio would get hit by the blast too.

            “Fucking bastard! Using a helpless pup as a shield against my Tessaiga!”

            Kouga shrugged. “If you want him back, dog-shit, come and get him!”

            “Inuyasha!” Kagome shouted, her voice terrified.

             _‘Oh, oh my god. He’s got him. He’s got Yukio. He’s going to kill him. He’s going to kill my baby.’_

            “Kouga-kun, please! Please don’t hurt him!” she begged.

            “He stinks of you. Do you actually feed this thing?” Kouga commented with disgust.

            Yukio, realizing that he was in the hands of a male who did not smell familiar, upped his cries to full wails and he wailed like he did on the night his mother died, only louder because his lungs were bigger now. His howls grabbed Kagome’s soul and pulled, snapping something inside of her. Suddenly Kouga was no longer the wild, naïve suitor who wouldn’t give up on her or the uneasy ally and friend who protected her and fought with Inuyasha for her attentions. He was a threat to her child and she was the protective mother who would do anything to save her infant.

            “LET GO OF MY BABY!”

            Without a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed her bow and fired, heedless of her interference in the fight between them. She no longer cared about their petty rivalry; she was going to protect her child. The arrow severed his arm where it met his shoulder, and it was only the fact that any closer would have risked Yukio that kept the shot from being fatal. With the arm hanging useless at his side, held on only by a flap of skin and thin muscle, the wolf youkai was forced to release his captive, and Yukio fell, blood from the spurting wound on Kouga’s shoulder splattering on his sling. Inuyasha moved faster than she’d ever seen him move and snatched the baby in mid-air, then immediately brought him to her side. She took him, clutching him to her chest, stilling his cries as best she could.

             _‘Yukio. You’re safe. Thank god, you’re safe. My baby, my baby, I thought I’d lost you.’_

            She raised her eyes to see the damage that she had done to the wolf lord. He was down, his arm dangling by a few tendons and some skin. The bone looked like it had been shattered. He was staring at her in shock, his eyes full of horror and betrayal. His lips formed her name but she didn’t hear him. She could barely hear anything over the pounding of her own heart.

            “Now we end this, you sick bastard!” Inuyasha was snarling, Tessaiga at the ready.

 _‘I… I almost killed him. I almost killed Kouga. I almost killed someone in cold blood. Oh my god. Oh my god…’_  she gasped to herself, realizing what she had just done. She’d just attacked someone she had thought of as a trusted friend.

            She started to shake uncontrollably, her legs going weak, and she collapsed. Miroku was by her side instantly as was Shippou.

            “Kagome!” “Kagome-sama!”

_‘He took Yukio and I almost killed him. If he hadn’t been holding Yukio, I would have aimed for his heart…’_

            “I wasn’t going to hurt the damn thing!” the wolf youkai insisted.

            “Eat this, you fucking piece of shit! Kaze no…” Inuyasha snarled.

_‘He’s going to kill Kouga while he’s helpless. No… No, don’t Inuyasha. Don’t. You’re better than that.’_

            “No… don’t kill him,” she whispered hoarsely. “Please don’t kill him…”

            “Inuyasha!” Miroku yelled. “Inuyasha, wait!”

            The adult hanyou halted his swing and whirled around snarling. “WHAT?!”

            “Kagome-sama…”

            Inuyasha saw her collapsed on the ground and was by her side in a heartbeat.

            “Kagome. Are you alright?”

            Inuyasha was wounded and covered in blood. Yukio was still crying and whimpering. Miroku was bleeding from the head wound Kouga had given him when he knocked him down. Shippou had blood on his face too. Everywhere there was pain and destruction. She couldn’t take it. She began to rock, a keening cry catching in the back of her throat and coming out as a heart-broken moan.

            “I think she’s going into shock,” Miroku said, using the term he had learned from Kagome during the years they had been together.

_‘Don’t, please. No more bloodshed. No more… no more fighting…’_

            “Inu… Inuyasha… the baby…” she stammered, staring blankly ahead.

            His arm came around her. “It’s alright, Kagome, the pup’s safe.”

            She gripped the sleeve of his haori tightly in her fist. “Please… no more bloodshed…” she begged.

            He sighed, closing his eyes for a second before he nodded and kissed her brow. “Okay.”

            Then he stood and faced the injured wolf lord, Tessaiga in his hand and ready to strike.

            “I wasn’t going to hurt the pup,” Kouga repeated, holding his dangling arm. “I was just going to take Kagome.”

            “Keh, like I fucking care what you planned to do. You took my pup, you stinking asshole. I should kill you right here, but Kagome doesn’t want you dead. So run, you wimpy bastard. Run and get out my face. You have your life for now, but the next time you see us, we’ll be coming for your shards.”

            She heard Kouga pick himself up and go, but she did not turn her head to look at him. All her attention was focused on the sniffling infant who clung to her and turned huge golden eyes her way. It was all over and relief flooded through her, but with the loss of adrenaline came the horror of how close she had come to losing her son.

_‘Yukio. I was so scared. My baby. My poor hanyou baby.’_

            Gathering the precious bundle to her chest, she buried her face in his silver hair and began to cry. She cried with relief and sorrow at what had happened. She cried for herself, for what she had almost done and the remorse she felt. She cried for her friends who had risked their lives to protect her baby and bore wounds from their battle. And she cried for her son who was despised by both worlds and forever stuck between them, for the senseless hate and prejudice this time held for all those who were different, and the overwhelming relief that they had saved him and that he was safe.

            Then she was struck by the terrible realization that for every hanyou that lived, dozens died: their brief lives snuffed out before they had a chance to live, and she began to cry for them. She cried for all the hanyou babies who were drowned and slaughtered at birth. She cried for all the ones orphaned and left to starve. She cried for those who were hunted down and killed by humans and youkai alike. All those little lives cut down for no reason other than that they were born.

_‘It’s horrible. So horrible. I hate this world! I want to go home!’_

            “Kagome,” Inuyasha called to her, but she could only hug her baby and shake her head.

            “Kagome,” Shippou said, sitting beside her and touching her leg timidly.

_‘Shippou, sweet Shippou, you don’t hate him do you? You won’t try to kill him, will you? You’ve learned that hanyous aren’t worthless and deserve to die.’_

            She knew she was crying like she did the afternoon when she got back from the doctor’s: great gasping sobs that wracked her thin body and made Inuyasha feel helpless.

_‘Inuyasha…’_

            She looked at him. He was looking lost, his ears down, his eyes wide and concerned.

_‘My beautiful Inuyasha.’_

            “You’re injured…” she managed, focusing briefly on his bloodied clothing.        

            “Bah, these scratches are nothing. That wimpy wolf’s a weakling. I’ll be healed by morning.”

_‘He’s lying. He could have died too. I could have lost both of them…’_

            She cried harder, crying for him. Crying with sorrow and gratitude that he  ** _had_**  lived. Not just that he had survived his fight with Kouga, but that he had managed to reach adulthood despite all the obstacles that had been in his way. He’d lived to maturity; lived so that she could meet him and fall in love with him.

_‘My beautiful, brave, wonderful, strong, courageous, loving Inuyasha.’_

            How many hanyous who had died had been born with his heart? How many could have loved and been loved if they had been given a chance? How many had so much to offer both worlds but were forever denied because they belonged to neither?

_‘So much useless waste of life. Why? Why does it have to be this way?’_

            Inuyasha’s arms came around her and Yukio, pulling her close and she could hear the infant and adult hanyous talking to each other in soft yips and whines, but she couldn’t do anything except weep for the senselessness of it all and the hard life her poor son was doomed to live.

            “Kagome… Kagome, please stop crying…” Inuyasha pleaded softly.

            She couldn’t obey and it seemed the heavens agreed with her because a storm had clouded the previously clear sky and rain began to fall as the clouds cried with her.

            “Shit! Where the hell did this come from?” Inuyasha growled.

            “We need to find shelter. Kagome-sama and the infant should not be out in this,” Miroku said worriedly.

            “I smelled a human village not far from here before we set up camp,” Inuyasha replied, putting his haori around Kagome and the baby.

            “I smelled it too,” Shippou added.

            “Let’s break camp and head for it then. With luck I can secure lodgings for at least Kagome and Yukio for the night.”

            Inuyasha gave a grunt of agreement, but left the breaking of camp to the houshi as he picked up Kagome, who was still holding Yukio close to her chest, and began walking towards the scent of the village. Miroku and Shippou, carrying the packs, caught up with them just as they were reaching the settlement. It looked to be a decent sized town and Miroku thought he saw what looked like a guest house.

            By now night had fallen and the rain was coming down in sheets, the wind howling like a lost soul, and all of them were soaked, except for Yukio because both his parents shielded him with their bodies. Kagome had him tucked underneath her as she turned her back to the storm, her head resting on Inuyasha’s shoulder. She’d stopped crying, but was now still and silent in her lover’s arms.

            Miroku led them to the place he thought was an inn and they were relieved to see the sign welcoming travelers. The houshi stepped up to the doors and knocked, calling out to the proprietor. After a few anxious moments, the shoji pulled back and a middle-aged man holding a lantern peered out. Miroku bowed deeply.

            “Greetings sir, we are weary travelers in need of shelter for the night. We have a woman with an infant. If there is no room for us, might there be a place for her?”

            Inuyasha set Kagome down gently as the man looked them over, his eyes darting over him and Shippou.

            “We’re all full. Look elsewhere,” he said gruffly.

            Miroku sighed and bowed. “Thank you for your time. We are sorry to have disturbed you so late in the evening.”

            The man grunted and shut the shoji with a firm slam. They turned to leave, Inuyasha scowling as he picked up Kagome again, and were walking away when there was the sound of someone being struck and a sharp cry of pain. Then the shoji slid open again and a woman called out to them.

            “Wait. You said there was an infant with you?” she said.

            They turned back and Inuyasha carried Kagome to the door. There he put her down on her feet and stepped away. She stood there in the rain, her eyes downcast, clutching Yukio close to her and trying to keep him dry.

            “Oh Kami-sama. Come in, you poor thing,” the woman said, beckoning.

            “My baby’s a hanyou,” she answered faintly, knowing that the male proprietor had refused them lodgings because of Inuyasha and Shippou.

            “It doesn’t matter. It’s not fit for man or beast out there tonight. Come in all of you and forgive my husband’s rudeness.”

            “Oi, woman! I told them we had no room!” the man shouted, holding the growing lump on his head.

            “Shut up! We’re empty and you know it, and I for one will not force an infant to stay out in the rain and cold.”

            “Thank you, kind mistress,” Miroku replied, urging Kagome into the building.

            They entered, Inuyasha being the last to step through the doorway, his golden eyes casting the man a withering glare.

            “Come in, come in, my dear and sit by the fire. You’re soaked to the skin. I’ll get you some hot tea and a dry yukata,” the woman told Kagome, guiding her to the common room with its central firepit.

            “Thank you. I have clothes…”

            “No matter, I’ll still bring tea and warm soup. Sit down, all of you and rest.” She took in Inuyasha’s bloodied clothes. “It looks like you have met with trouble this evening.”

            “A little. We had an altercation with one of the wolf youkai tribe.” Miroku answered.

            The woman nodded. “Yes, we have had trouble with them before, but not recently. It’s rumored that they have stopped hunting humans.”

             _‘Because Kouga wanted to please me. Will he now return to his old ways?_ ’ Kagome thought with a heavy heart.

            “Keh! I doubt that one will be bothering you anytime soon,” Inuyasha replied.

            “You appear to be injured. Do you need a doctor?” she asked him.

            “Feh, I’m fine,” the hanyou scoffed.

            “I’ll fetch water for the tea and bring the soup,” the woman told them, leaving the common room.

            Inuyasha knelt next to Kagome, bringing her bag with him. “Kagome, are you alright?”

            She nodded, still barely speaking, and held Yukio closer. He was being quiet, but she saw the fear and uncertainty in his eyes when she looked at him. Inuyasha took his drenched haori from her and opened the bag, pulling out a towel and patting her hair with it.

            “You’re soaked, woman. You should change out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold.”

            “You’re wet too,” she answered.

            “Bah, I said I’m fine. Stop fussing over me.”

            “Now, now, Inuyasha. Kagome-sama is only concerned for your welfare,” Miroku chided.

            “What about you, Miroku-sama? Did Kouga hurt you?” she asked.

            “I hit my head on a tree root when he knocked me down. It’s just a bump and nothing serious.”

            “I’m glad.”

            “I’m okay too!” Shippou added.

            She smiled at him. “I’m glad, Shippou.”

            She was silent for a few moments, then spoke again. “Do you think Kouga and his tribe will go back to killing humans?”

            “There is no way of knowing until they do,” Miroku responded reasonably.

            “I… I hope not,” she said.

            “I as well.”

            “No matter what… I still don’t think he’s bad at heart.”

            “Keh!” Inuyasha scoffed.

            “He said he wasn’t going to hurt Yukio,” she noted softly.

            Inuyasha snorted. “And you believed him?”

            “I don’t know what to believe. You said he would kill Yukio outright, but he said he would let you live because you would have to take care of Yukio after he took me away. And… and he didn’t kill him right away. Maybe he didn’t mean him any harm.”

            “He still took the pup. Does it matter why?”

            She remembered Yukio’s terrified wails and clenched her jaw, the protective mother instinct rising up in her again. “No.”

            The proprietress returned with the water and soup, and placed both on the newly kindled fire.

            “There. They’ll be ready very soon, then you can eat and retire to your rooms.”

            “We need only one room, kind mistress. We are well used to sharing space, and I do not think my companions wish to be separated,” Miroku answered.

            The woman nodded. “As you wish, houshi-sama. I’ll put extra futons in our largest room.”

            “Thank you.”

            After the tea and soup were served, the woman left briefly to prepare the room and returned to tell them it was ready. Wearily, they followed her through the inn to a large room with three futons separated by a single privacy screen. Each futon had blankets, a pillow and a clean yukata on it. Miroku bowed deeply to the woman for her kindness and handed her several coins from their string of money.

            The woman counted the coins, smiled and gave three back.

            “This is more than enough, houshi-sama. Thank you.”

            He bowed again and she bowed back, then left them alone, closing the room’s shoji behind her. They spread out, Kagome going to the single futon on the other side of the privacy screen. There she placed Yukio down on the mattress while she undressed and put on the yukata. Then she knelt down and brought Yukio to her breast to feed him his dinner. In all the commotion and upset, she hadn’t had any opportunity to nurse him. It was proof of his confusion and uncertainty that he hadn’t started crying. He was wet too, and she made a note to change him as soon as he was done eating.

            For the first time, she wasn’t wearing Inuyasha’s haori as a nursing blanket. The fire rat garment was soaked and draped across the screen to dry. It didn’t mean, however, that Inuyasha wasn’t close by. He was in his usual place right next to her, and she didn’t care if he saw her breasts because he’d seen them many times before.

            “I was scared,” Inuyasha admitted softly as he watched Yukio feeding. “When Kouga grabbed him, I was scared.”           

            She nodded. “Me too. I’m… I’m glad we’re all okay.” She looked at Inuyasha’s bloody kimono and Yukio’s blood splattered sling.

            “He needs a new sling. This one’s covered in blood and it was getting too small for him anyway,” she commented.

            “Heh. Pup grows well on your milk.”

            She agreed, flushing slightly, and fell silent as the baby nursed. When he was finished, she burped him and changed him, then convinced Inuyasha to let her treat his belly wound. Shortly thereafter, they were ready to retire for the night. Inuyasha took one of the futons from the other side of the privacy screen and put it next to Kagome’s, combining them to make a single large bed that they could both sleep in comfortably. Then she, Yukio and Inuyasha cuddled together under the blankets while Shippou shared the remaining futon with Miroku. There was no love making or even a hint of sexual activity between them, merely sweet kisses and caresses of love and reassurance until they both fell asleep still holding each other with Yukio snuggled between them.

            The following morning hunting down and killing the boar youkai seemed like child’s play compared to the challenges of the previous day. One swing of Tessaiga and the ‘impossible to kill’ monster was laid to waste, and its shard taken.

            They were back on the road towards home by the middle of the afternoon.

 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

 

            “Tadaima,” Kagome said wearily, pushing back the shoji and stepping into the genkan. She was carrying Yukio because his sling was still broken, and he was sleeping peacefully.

            Inuyasha closed the doors behind her and they both entered the house. Suddenly he sniffed loudly, began to growl and raced towards the kitchen. She barely had time to register what was happening before she heard his angry snarl and a woman’s scream. Running to the kitchen, she found Inuyasha crouched on the table, his hand around the throat of the good doctor who had hurt her. Her mother was standing up, her eyes wide and frightened; a set of photographs of a damaged car were scattered on the table.

            “I told you I’d kill you if you came anywhere near Kagome or my son again, bitch!”

            “Inuyasha!” she cried.

            Yukio, who had begun to awaken the moment his father started growling, came to full consciousness and wailed in terror. He’d been extremely on edge and sensitive since the incident with Kouga, and Kagome feared he’d been traumatized by it. He’d clung to her and started crying at the slightest upset from either her or Inuyasha. It made for some very long and sleepless nights of rocking and comforting him when he went into one of his fits. Both she and Inuyasha were exhausted and on edge. Another altercation with the doctor her mother had taken her to was the last thing they needed right now.

            “What the Hell are you doing here?” Inuyasha demanded.

            “Inuyasha, let her go!”

            He ignored her and shook the woman roughly by the neck. “Answer me, bitch!”

            “Inuyasha, don’t make me subdue you! Let her go right now!” she threatened.

            Still snarling, he let the woman go, dropping her back down to the chair she had been seated in. The doctor grabbed her throat and gasped for air.

            “Kagome,” her mother said worriedly.

            “What’s going on Mama?” she asked, bouncing Yukio to calm him. He sniffled and let out a whine. Inuyasha barked something back in inu-youkai and the baby quieted, his golden eyes red and watery.

            “Dr. Ishimoro came by with some photographs she wanted you to see,” her mother answered guardedly.

            There was something in her eyes, a warning, and Kagome grew cold.

            “What?” Inuyasha growled, still on the table, his hackles still raised.

            “You damaged my car,” the doctor replied, picking up a photograph of a white car with huge gashes across it.

            “Keh! You’re lucky I didn’t do that to your…”

            “Inuyasha!” she yelled warningly, and amazingly Inuyasha heard the note in her voice and stopped, his head coming around to face her.

            “What?”

            “Don’t say another word,” she told him seriously.

            He looked at her, confused. “Why?”

            “Please, just trust me on this. Just stay quiet and don’t say anything else, okay? Please, it’s very very important that you not say another word,” she pleaded.

            He blinked at her but stayed silent.

            “Here, why don’t you hold Yukio. You can talk to him and keep him calm, alright?” she said, offering him the baby.

            He hopped down from the table and took Yukio from her, still quiet. She smiled and realized he was taking her seriously about not saying a word.

            “You can talk. It’s okay. Just don’t talk to her and don’t answer any questions she might ask you, okay?”

            “O… okay,” he agreed but she could tell he was confused. She put a hand on his arm to reassure him and also rubbed Yukio’s ears to comfort the still worried and whimpering baby.

            She turned to the doctor. “What do you want?”

            The doctor held up a picture. “Your… thing did this to my car.”

            “I don’t know anything about that,” she answered honestly.  _‘I don’t. I had no idea he’d done that. He must have done it after I went back to class.’_

            “And he’s not a  ** _thing_** , as you put it, he’s a hanyou,” she added angrily.  _‘Oh well, she’s already seen them so there’s no use in trying to lie about it. Besides, truth is stranger than fiction, right?’_

            “Hanyou? Hanyous don’t exist,” Dr. Ishimoro scoffed.

            “Seeing that there are two of them right here, I’d say you’re wrong about that.”

            The doctor looked in the direction of Inuyasha and Yukio.

            “The infant is one of  ** _them_**  too?”

            She gave the woman a tolerant look. “Isn’t it obvious? I would think the ears’d give it away.”

            The doctor looked at Mama Higurashi. “You let your daughter cavort with these things?”

            “You yourself told me Kagome is still a virgin so that means her honor is safe with him. As for letting her be with him, I don’t have much say in the matter,” her mother answered coldly.

            “What kind of a mother are you?”

            “One who understands that sometimes things happen that you can’t control, and that you can make matters much worse by trying. I trust my daughter and I trust this boy. I know Kagome is safe with him. ”

            “Safe? He’s threatened to kill me twice and nearly destroyed my car!” Dr. Ishimoro argued.

            “You hurt my daughter. She came home sobbing from her visit with you. Inuyasha is extremely protective of Kagome. I would say you were lucky to have escaped your first encounter with him at all,” Mama replied matter-of-factly.

            Throughout all of this, Yukio kept sniffling and whining, and his noise was an unwelcome distraction. Finally, Kagome turned to Inuyasha and looked at him holding Yukio. The adult hanyou looked as irritated and frustrated as the baby.

            “Inuyasha, what’s wrong with him?” she asked.

            “He can’t help it. It’s that damn noise,” Inuyasha complained.

            “What noise?”

            “The noise coming from that black bag. It hurts his ears.”

            “Coming from the black bag…” she repeated, then grabbed the doctor’s purse, zipping it open.

            “Hey!” the doctor protested.

            ‘ _Just as I thought!’_  A digital tape recorder with an extended microphone sat nestled in the purse, recording light flashing. She grabbed it and tossed it to Inuyasha who caught it in one hand with his superior reflexes.

            “Give that back. That’s my property!” the doctor exclaimed.

            “Inuyasha, smash that,” she said calmly.

            “Smash it?”

            “Yes. Destroy it.”

            “O… Okay.”

            He took it in one hand and crushed it easily, the plastic snapping and the internal circuits shorting out.

            “Be careful you don’t get shocked,” she warned just as it zapped him.

            “Ow! Shit!”

            He dropped the recorder, drew Tessaiga with his free hand and rammed the tip into the piece of equipment.

            “Watch the floor!” she said.

            The sword pierced the recorder and the tatami as well.

             _‘Too late…’_  she thought sadly. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

            “It’s okay, honey.”

            “There! Take that!” Inuyasha announced proudly, sheathing the sword.

            “Has it stopped making noise?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Good. Now rip it up and make sure there is nothing of it left.”

            Inuyasha obeyed, stomping on the recorder until it was in very many tiny pieces.

            “You can’t do that. That belongs to me,” Dr. Ishimoro complained.

            “You also have no evidence. You think anyone will believe you when you tell them a hanyou destroyed your tape recorder with his hand and sword? Do you think they’ll let you keep your medical license once you start telling stories like that?” she replied coldly.

            The doctor had no answer.

            She sighed heavily. She was tired and stressed out. She wanted a bath, a hot meal, her bed and her man, not necessarily in that order. She put a hand to her forehead and took a deep breath.

            “I’m sorry about your car. I didn’t know he was going to do that or I would have stopped him. But you really need to consider yourself lucky that he didn’t use his claws on you. Inuyasha is my protector, and he doesn’t live by the same moral code we do. His world is simple and violent. You hurt me, you die. He’s very straightforward that way,” she explained patiently.

            “You really need to go away and not come back because I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be able to stop him from seriously hurting you. In fact, if you keep bothering us there’s a good chance I won’t be able to stop him because he’ll see you as an even bigger threat than he already does.”

            “Are you threatening me?” the doctor sneered.

            She sighed again. “No. I’m explaining how things are to you. Inuyasha is my protector. Inuyasha’s morality is different from ours. Inuyasha would not think twice about killing you, ripping up your body and feeding it to the crows.”  _‘Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but I really want her to go away!’_

            “She’s right,” her mother confirmed. “I’ve seen what he can do. You’re taking your life into your hands if you pursue this.”

            “I can’t believe this! First he threatens to kill me, then he gouges my car! Now he threatens me again and destroys my recorder!”

            “Which you no doubt intended to use to gather evidence to take us to court,” Mama noted.

             _‘Ah so I was right about that,’_  Kagome thought.

            “Don’t make killing you the easiest way to get rid of you. He’ll do it without a second thought,” her mother went on, reinforcing Kagome’s earlier words.

            The doctor stood up abruptly. “This isn’t the end of this,” she warned.

            “For your sake, I hope it is,” Mama replied.

            “You’ll be hearing from me and my lawyer!” she threatened.

            “Again, don’t make trouble for my daughter. It can only go badly for you.”

            The woman snorted, but kept a good distance from the hanyou. “I’m not afraid of  ** _that!_** ”

            “You should be,” Inuyasha growled. “There’s nowhere you can hide, bitch. I’ve got your scent now. I could track you through a blinding snow and still rout you out from whatever rock you crawled under.”

_‘Okay, now **he’s**  exaggerating, but she doesn’t need to know that.’_

            “Hah! You think I don’t know a few priests? Things like you can be banished!”

            “I’d like to see any of your modern priests try, woman!” he countered.

            “And you, little girl, I’ll be talking with your high school administrator about your  ** _illness_** ,” the doctor sneered.

            Kagome blanched but did not reply.  _‘If she gets me kicked out of high school, my future is ruined. But… aside from telling the truth or killing her, I don’t know what to do.’_

            “I warn you again. Don’t make trouble for my daughter,” Mama said very seriously and very calmly.

            Kagome looked at her mother and saw something in her eyes. There was peace about her, and she was completely unruffled by the doctor’s accusations and threats.

             _‘She knows something I don’t,’_  Kagome realized.

            “We’ll see about that. I’m not someone who takes threats lightly.”

            With that, the doctor stormed out. No one lifted a finger to stop her. When she was gone, Kagome let out a heart-broken moan and dropped down into a chair.

            “What am I going to do? If she talks to my school administrator, I’m done for!”

            “Kagome, I know you wouldn’t like it, but the only way to deal with her is to kill her or… or I could give her a head wound. Head wounds can make a human forget. I could thump her right on the back of the skull…” Inuyasha offered tentatively.

            “That won’t be necessary,” Mama replied calmly.

            “What are we going to do then?” she asked.

            Mama turned her head to look towards the dining room and they looked to see Jii-chan standing there, a serious, unhappy expression on his face.

            “You heard?” Mama asked.

            The old man folded his arms and nodded.

            “You know what to do then.”

            Jii-chan nodded again and turned away, headed for the alcove with the telephone.

            “Mama?”

            “You are about to witness the power of the Higurashi name, Kagome. Your grandfather’s ofudas and seals might not work as well as those of priests and mikos in the Sengoku Jidai, but I think that has more to do with people’s lack of faith in this time than an actual loss of spiritual power. What we do have is connections in some very high places. The Higurashi shrine is very well respected, and Jii-chan knows many, many people who would be more than willing to intercede on our behalf. We do not like to abuse this power and we don’t ask for favors often, but in order to protect you and Inuyasha we will do what we have to do. I would not be surprised if the good doctor finds herself out of a job very soon, but I hope it does not come to that,” her mother answered seriously.

             _‘Wow. I never knew my family had that kind of power!_ ’ she thought, stunned.

            “At the very least, you will not have to worry about her bothering you at school or damaging your chances of getting into college. Nor will we have to worry about her trying to get to us through the police or the courts. As for Inuyasha, I doubt any of the priests she knows would be able to do anything to him, especially since you have a great deal of spiritual power and he is under your protection,” the woman went on.

            “Me? Inuyasha’s under my protection?”

            Mama gave her a calm look. “Of course. You protect each other. If someone tried to seal or banish him, I have no doubt that you’d prevent that from happening. You’d probably even throw the seal back at the caster and hit him with it.”

_‘A counter-curse! I did that with the black miko Tsubaki!’_

            “Keh! Kagome’s already done that!” Inuyasha said before she could speak.

            Her mother blinked at her and she blushed.

            “You have?”

            “Ummm… yeah. It was a long time ago. A… umm… a black miko cursed me.”

            “Cursed you?”

            She looked away uncomfortably. “Um, yeah. She cast a curse that corrupted the shikon shards and made them go into my neck. I… I couldn’t move and then she tried to make me kill Inuyasha by shooting him with a miko’s arrow.”

            Mama stared at Inuyasha, aghast. “She tried to kill you?”

            The hanyou shrugged. “Well… she  ** _did_**  miss…”

            “I was trying to fight it and that, thankfully, affected my aim,” she explained sheepishly.

            “But when that bi… uhh… black miko sent her Shikigami after Kagome while I was fighting a youkai, she just swung her bow and slapped it right back. It flew right into Tsubaki’s eye,” Inuyasha said proudly.

             _‘He just loves telling my mother how I’ve escaped certain death,’_ she thought worriedly.  _‘But he always sounds so **proud**  when he tells her how I survived.’_

            “Back in her eye…” her mother repeated, fixing a serious gaze on her.

            She smiled shyly.

            Finally, Mama sighed and rolled her eyes. “This is why I never ask you about your adventures over there.”

            Inuyasha looked at her then at her mother, his face confused. “What? Why? What’d I do?”

            “Inuyasha, if Yukio was risking his life and almost dying, would you want to know?” she replied reasonably.

            “Keh! I’d be right there with him! Besides, it doesn’t matter. You’ve lived so far haven’t you?”

            Mama shook her head helplessly, trying to hold back a chuckle. “Inuyasha, there are just some things a mother doesn’t need to know.”

            Inuyasha blinked then snorted. “Right.”

            She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “While you regale Mama with stories of my near-death, I’m going to go take a bath.”

            Yukio burbled at her, making the noise for ‘mother-female’ and reached out one little hand. She nuzzled him and replied in inu-youkai.

            :Stay with Leader-male.:

            He flicked his puppy ears, looked disappointed, and shrank back against his father’s shoulder.

            :Mother-female.:

            :Be a good pup,: she added, giving him a kiss.

            Then she turned to her mother. “Thank you, Mama, for everything.”

            Mama smiled gently. “You’re welcome, Kagome.”

            “Okay, bath time!” she enthused, leaving the room, but not before she heard Inuyasha’s serious voice.

            “I’ll always protect her.”

            She paused and stood just out of sight, listening.

            “I know,” her mother answered.

            “If ever there is a time when Kagome does not live; you will know it is because I am dead.”

            “I know that too, and that frightens me because I know that it means if I lose one of you, I’ll probably lose both because Kagome will do the same for you.”

            “She shouldn’t. She has to take care of the pup.”

            “I don’t think she could ever make that choice.”

             _‘She’s right. If I had to choose who to save? I... I couldn’t. I’d probably die with them. Please, Inuyasha, don’t ever let it come to that.’_

            Sighing, shaking away the dour thoughts, she headed upstairs. The hot bath was calling.

 

********

 

            Kagome greeted the next day with no small amount of trepidation. While she trusted her mother’s assurances that the doctor would not be a problem, she was still worried. What if the doctor came to her school while she was there? What if she brought people up to the roof during lunch time to see her feeding Yukio? She made a mental note to tell Inuyasha that they had to meet somewhere else.

            She yawned and stretched, jostling her bedmates slightly which caused both to wake. One made a noise of protest and nuzzled his nose into her shoulder. Inuyasha always hated to be roused out of a warm bed when he was cuddled with her. The other made a very clear sound.

            :Hungry.:

            She sighed.

            :Mother-female. Hungry.:

            She shifted to give him access to her breasts and opened her nightshirt for him.

            :Yes,: she answered.

            Snuffling at the nipple, Yukio latched on and began to feed.

            :Gently,: she admonished, tapping him on the back of his neck when he sucked a little too hard.

            :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.:

            She patted his back and soothed him. :Forgiven.:

            Yukio resumed nursing but more gently and slowly this time.

            Behind her, Inuyasha chuckled lowly. “Good pup. The longer you take, the longer we get to keep her here with us,” he murmured, licking the back of her neck. :Hungry too,: he growled in inu-youkai.

            Yukio stopped feeding and looked up towards his father, making a sound Kagome didn’t recognize, but Inuyasha laughed outright.

            “What did he say?”

            “He wanted to know of I wanted the food. He knows he’s low on the pecking order compared to me and when I said I was hungry, he thought he had to give up the milk to me,” he answered.

            “Don’t even think about it,” she warned.

            He barked a response to Yukio that told him it was okay to eat and licked the back of her neck again.

            “He doesn’t know it isn’t milk I’m hungry for,” he whispered, nibbling at her earlobe.

            She sighed. “Insatiable.”

            “Your fault.”

            “So you keep reminding me. Don’t I satisfy you?” she teased.

            He growled softly. “Always, but then I just hunger for more.”

            “Well, you’re gonna have to stay hungry because I have to get ready for school in fifteen minutes.”

            “That’s enough time, isn’t it?” he whined.

            “Ah... no.”  _‘Horny pig.’_

            “Damn,” he said with a sigh. “Are we going back tonight?”

            “Tomorrow.”

            He sighed again. “Okay.”

            She reached a hand behind her to pat him comfortingly. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

            Inuyasha brightened. “Promise?”

            “Yes, I promise.”

            “Even if I want it four times?”

            “We’ll see if I’m still conscious.”  _‘FOUR times?’_

            He chuckled. “I’m kidding.”

             _‘Thank god.’_  “Good.”

            “I’ll want it five times,” he corrected, snickering into her hair.

            “Horny dog,” she chided.

            “For you, always.”

            Yukio asked to be switched and she put one arm under him to lift him up so he could reach the second nipple. She found that if she let him try to do it himself when she was on her side, he would scrabble at her ribs in order to lift himself up and he’d scratch her with his claws. She already had several healing wounds from his previous attempts, and she found it easier, and less painful, to just prop him up herself.

            “You know I am kidding, right?” Inuyasha said, a hint of concern in his voice.

            She smiled. “I know.”

            “I love what we do together, even if we only do it once.”

            She nodded. “Maybe twice.”  
            He nuzzled her ear. “I’ll make them both good for you.”

            She sighed, wishing she  ** _could_**  stay in bed with him. “You always do.”

            “I do my best.”

            She tangled her fingers with his and held his hand in silent response. He sighed and cuddled up, resting his forehead against the back of her neck. It was amazing how important touch was to him; even the slightest, simplest caress could make him shiver.

_‘No one has ever touched him like I do. Even before we... were lovers, I would touch him all the time. He’s never said it, but I know he isn’t used to anyone being willing to touch him because he is a hanyou. Horrible, prejudiced people. Makes me so mad...’_

            “Oi, what are you thinking about that’s making you all tense?”

            “Just how touch means so much to you and how I’m the only one who’s ever really done it, and how horrible the people of your time are to shun you because you’re a hanyou. They really don’t know what they’re missing.”

            “Keh! Why bother yourself with that? They aren’t worth your time. Besides, you said it yourself, you touch me. That’s good enough,” he answered, licking her neck to soothe her.

            “But it’s so wrong. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re good and kind and strong and loving. It’s not right for them to hate you because of how you were born.”

            “It’s just how they are. No sense in worrying about it.”

            “But...”

            He stilled her with a light nip at the nape of her neck. “Kagome... if they hadn’t hated me, and if I hadn’t been shunned, and if things hadn’t happened the way that they did, I would never have met you, and as hard and lonely it was, I wouldn’t change a thing because I wouldn’t give up knowing you for the world.”

            “But you and Kikyou...”

            He sighed. “I would have become human for Kikyou, given up my hanyou powers and my strength. And I would never have known what it was like to be loved as I am, as a hanyou. No Kagome, I don’t ever wish things had been different... no, that’s not true. I wish I hadn’t said Kikyou’s name when Urasue made her clay body. I wish I hadn’t done that.”

            “But then you wouldn’t have her now,” she said.

            “I don’t have her now. Sometimes I think I never really did.”

            “You have me.”  _‘For as long as we can stay together.’_

            He nuzzled her ear. “I know.”

            Yukio finished and she sat up to burp him, ignoring Inuyasha’s whine of protest.

            “I’m sorry. I have to get ready for school. I’m just going to change him then go get washed. You’ll bring him at lunch right? We need a different meeting place because I’m worried Dr. Ishimoro might try to ambush us.”

            “I’m worried about that too. That’s why I’m coming with you.”

            “Coming with me? To school? Oh no no no.”

            “Oh yes yes yes. You think I’m going to give that bi... wench a chance to corner you when you’re away from me?”

            “But you can’t come with me. What about Yukio?”

            “I’ll have him with me.”

            “What?!”

            “I’ll just put him in that new carrier your mom bought yesterday and keep him with me.”

            “All day? He’ll go crazy!” she argued.

            “He’s spent all day in his sling before. He’ll manage just fine.”

            “But where will you stay?”

            “On the roof.”

            “The roof?”

            “Yeah, what’s wrong with that? I can sit right above your classroom and listen for you.”

            “But... but...”  _‘It’s too dangerous! Someone might see you!’_

            “No buts. I’m coming. I’ll wear one of those cap things over my ears.”

            “What if something happens?!” she cried.

            “What if something happens to you and I’m not there? I’m not willing to take that chance. It’s not that I don’t trust your mother and the old man, but I’d rather not take the risk,” he countered.

            “I don’t like it.”

            “You think I do? All day out in that noise and stink, with the pup no less? But I’d rather that, than have something happen and me not be there to protect you. Please Kagome. I need to be there to protect you.”

            His sincerity and heartfelt plea made her give in. “All... alright. But you run at the first sign of trouble coming at you.”

            “I promise. I’ll smash through your glass window, grab you and go. We’ll be through the well before they have a chance to even think about chasing us.”

_‘That isn’t quite what I had in mind but... Oh it’s useless arguing. He’ll just follow me anyway.’_

            She sighed and changed Yukio, who batted at her hands and burbled at her, chattering away in inu-youkai, three-quarters of which she didn’t understand. She cuddled him and blew raspberries on his belly, making him giggle, then gave him to Inuyasha with a :Stay with leader-male.: and went to take her bath.

            True to his word, Inuyasha went with her to school. In fact he carried her the majority of the way there, dropping her off three blocks away. She kissed both him and Yukio then told him to meet her in the basement of her school for lunch rather than on the roof.

            “There’s a door at the bottom of each staircase. Go through it and wait for me to come down. I’ll call for you. Don’t come into the school unless there’s no one in the hall,” she told him.

            He had agreed then bounded off with Yukio while she walked the rest of the way to school. Her friend Ayumi was walking in at the same time and the other girl saw her.

            “Kagome-chan!” Ayumi greeted.

            “Ayumi-chan,” she replied.

            The girl came close. “How are you feeling?”

            “I’m alright. I’ve come in to get my assignments and to turn in my homework,” she answered as they walked into the school together.

            “You’re looking very well. Much better than before. I remember when you were so sick. You looked so tired and worn out.”

             _‘Yeah because Naraku was trying to kill us, and almost succeeding, on a regular basis.’_  “Yeah, the new treatment and this new attendance schedule have really helped.”

            “How is your aunt in Sendai ?”

            She nodded, well familiar with the “cover story.” Her grandfather had told everyone that she spent the majority of her time at her aunt’s house on the outskirts ofSendai .

            “She’s doing very well. I think the fresh air and the closeness to the ocean are really good for both of us.”

            “Well, you certainly have benefited from it.”

            “Thanks.”

            “I’m glad to see you. When do you have to go back?”

            “Tomorrow.”

            Ayumi looked disappointed. “Oh.”

            “But I’ll be back in two weeks for five days because of our exams,” she offered.

            Ayumi smiled. “We should study together like we used to, Kagome-chan. I miss spending time with you. Since Yuka and Eri went to Waseda and Houjou went to Tokyo Metropolitan, you and I are the only ones left from our group.”

            “I know. I miss you too Ayumi.”

            “How is Inuyasha?” the girl asked suddenly.

            “He’s doing well.”

            “Still two-timing you?”

            “Not as much.”

            “That’s good. He seemed okay the one time I met him at your house.”

            She nodded, remembering the day Ayumi, Yuka and Eri had come over to meet Inuyasha, and he had made a good impression on them.

            “Yeah, he is. And he’s getting better.”

            “I’m glad. You deserve to be happy, Kagome.”

            She gave her friend a fond look. “Thank you, Ayumi. That means a lot to me.”

            Ayumi just smiled and shrugged.

            They went into their homeroom class together and took their seats. Kagome turned in all of her homework and made arrangements with each of her teachers to pick up her assignments after school. At lunch, she slipped out of the room and headed quickly for the basement.

            “Inuyasha,” she called when she reached the bottom of the basement stairs.

            It was dim and cool down there and reminded her a bit of the den- without all the metal and machine noise. Inuyasha materialized out of the gloom, his bare feet making no sound on the concrete floor.

            “Kagome,” he greeted as she hugged him and gave him a kiss.

            Yukio gurgled at her and smiled.

            :Mother-female,: he said.

            :Pup.:

            :Hungry.:

            :I know.:

            :Food?:

            :Yes,: she confirmed, taking him from Inuyasha as he draped his haori over her shoulders before she settled down with her back against the wall.

            She lifted up her shirt and pulled down the nursing flap on the bra, giving him the nipple.

            :Food,: he said happily, beginning to nurse.

            “How is your day going?” Inuyasha asked as he crouched down next to her.

            “Okay. I have to see all my teachers after school to pick up my assignments.”

            He nodded.

            “How is yours?” she said as he handed her one of the two small bento boxes her mother had made for their lunches.

            He opened his lunch box and started eating. “I’m bored. Nothing good happening and all your teachers talk about is stuff I don’t understand.”

            “I haven’t even heard a rumor that Dr. Ishimoro caused any trouble,” she admitted, opening her own box.

            “Hmm. I guess the old man did his job then.”

            “I guess so,” she agreed.

            “Kagome-chan?” a female voice called from the top of the basement stairs, followed by tentative footsteps heading down. “Kagome, are you down here?”

            She froze, her heart lodging in her throat. ‘ _Ayumi-chan…’_

            Before either of them could do anything, the girl had reached the bottom of the stairs and rounded the corner where they were. Her eyes searched and then found them sitting against the wall.

            “Kagome? What are you doing down in the basement?” Ayumi asked. “I saw you come down here and… oh Inuyasha is here. Inuyasha-kun what…”

            The girl stopped dead in her tracks when she realized what Kagome was doing. She gasped, her eyes opening wide and took a step back.

            “Kagome…”

            “Ayumi-chan, it’s okay…” she tried, but the girl was already backpedaling.

            “I… I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll get out of here...”

            Ayumi spun and ran for the stairs.

            “Inuyasha, stop her! Quickly!”

            Inuyasha obeyed, leaping over the girl and blocking her path to the stairs.

            “Oi. Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

            Ayumi collapsed at his feet, terrified. “Please don’t hurt me!”

            “Huh? Why would I hurt you?” he asked, blinking at her.

            She stared up at him. “Be… because Kagome says you’re reckless and violent and…”

            He gave Kagome an angry glare and she shrugged sheepishly.  _‘Oops.’_

            “Hey. I’m only violent to those who hurt Kagome. Are you gonna hurt Kagome?”

            “N… no.”

            “Then you got nothing to worry about. Kagome just wanted me to stop you, that’s all.”

            “How’d you move so fast?” the girl asked, starting to overcome her fear.

            “Keh! You thought  ** _that_**  was fast? You haven’t seen anything.”

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome warned and he quieted his boasting, then she turned to her friend. “Ayumi-chan.”

             _‘She’s seen that I have a baby. She’ll see he’s not human. Ayumi may not have gotten into Waseda, but she’s not stupid. Of all my friends, she was the one the most sympathetic to Inuyasha. Maybe she can be trusted now. And even if she can’t, it’s too late isn’t it,_ ’ she thought sadly.

            “Kagome-chan,” Ayumi answered, sitting up and facing her. “I… I didn’t know you had a baby. If the high school administrator finds out…”

            “Exactly. So you’re not going to tell him, right? Or anyone else, right?”

            Ayumi shook her head. “No. Of course not. You’ll be expelled!”

            The girl came over and knelt by her as Inuyasha returned to his place next to her and resumed eating his lunch. Kagome blushed and Ayumi stared.

            “When… when did you have him… her? I never even knew you were pregnant.”

            “Him, and I wasn’t. This baby is an orphan.”

            “But…”

            “A woman can make milk and not be pregnant. It’s called induced lactation and you can find out about it on-line,” Kagome explained.

            “Induced lactation. But how… why?”

            She shrugged. “I wasn’t actually planning it. It just kinda happened.”

            Ayumi looked away. “Oh.”

            “Anyway, you won’t tell anyone, right?”

            Ayumi shook her head again. “No. I won’t tell  ** _anyone_**. I promise!”

            “Good. Thank you.”

            Yukio asked to be switched so she moved him over, giving Ayumi a good look at him. The girl gasped.

            “Kagome… the baby…”

            “Has puppy ears, yes I know.”

            She saw Ayumi gulp and knew her friend was just itching to ask. She smiled to herself as Yukio took the second breast, mumbling a happy :Food.: in inu-youkai. She barked back a soft, :Good pup.: to him and he sighed.

            “Where did you get him?” the girl asked timidly.

            “About nine ri from Edo.”

            “Nine ri from Edo? What?”

            She chucked. “It’s a long story.”

            Ayumi bit her lip and stared at the baby. “Does he have a tail too?”

            Inuyasha nearly choked on his food and coughed. “A tail??”

            “Well… yeah, if he has dog ears couldn’t he have a tail too?”

            The hanyou sputtered and Kagome held back a laugh.

            “No, he doesn’t have a tail. He does have claws and fangs though. Fangs he’d better be careful not to use on his mother when he feeds,” she warned gently, tapping Yukio on the back of his neck when he grazed her nipple with a canine.

            :Sorry! Sorry!:

            She cuddled him and rubbed his back. :Forgiven.:

            “Kagome…” Ayumi began uncertainly. “Kagome… is he… is he  ** _human_**?”

            “No. Not exactly. But that’s obvious isn’t it?”

            The girl tittered nervously, but nodded. “Yeah.”

            “Yukio is a hanyou. An inu-hanyou to be exact.”

            “Inu-hanyou?” Ayumi repeated.

            “His mother was human, but his father was…”

            “A dog demon?” the girl finished. “But Kagome… demons don’t exist…”

            “Inuyasha, will you take off your cap, please?” she asked.

            “My cap? Why? You spend all this time making me swear to always wear it when I’m here in your blasted world and now you want me to take it off?” he complained.

            She gave him a tolerant smile. “It’s okay, really. Go ahead and show Ayumi your ears.”

            He gave her a confused look, but obeyed, taking off the hat. Ayumi squealed when she saw his dog ears.

            “OW!” Inuyasha yelled.

            “Inuyasha is an inu-hanyou too,” she explained.

            “Are they real? Can I touch them?”

            “Inuyasha?” she asked.

            The hanyou bent his head so Ayumi could inspect his ears and the girl rubbed them lightly.

            “Be careful. They’re really sensitive,” Kagome warned.

            “They’re so soft…”

            “Keh. What were you expecting?”

            “Is this why he’s so angry and violent all the time, Kagome?” Ayumi questioned.

            “Hey! I am not,” he snorted, offended.

            “No. He just puts up a front so no one will figure out he’s just a big fluffy puppy inside,” Kagome teased.

            “Fluffy puppy!? I’ll show you fluffy puppy!”

            Ayumi giggled then sobered. “Hey wait a minute! If you’re an inu-hanyou and so is the baby… is this baby yours? Are you two-timing Kagome again you big jerk?! And then you ask her to raise it for you after you had a baby with your old girlfriend? You’ve got some nerve buster!!”

            “Eh?? What??!!” Inuyasha scrambled.

            “Ayumi. Ayumi!” Kagome tried, but the girl was off on a roll of indignant rage.

            “You better treat her right! Kagome’s too good hearted to tell you to stuff it, but I know how much you made her cry!”

            He looked at her, aghast. “You’ve been talking about me?”

            “Of course she’s been talking about you! I’m her best friend. Who else is she going to cry to when you cheat on her again? And now you bring her your illegitimate half-demon baby to raise. You… you… Oooooo YOU HORRIBLE, TWO-TIMING, VIOLENT, SELFISH JERK!” Ayumi yelled.

            Inuyasha cringed and tried to hide behind Kagome.

            “Kagom-e-e-e-e-e,” he begged.

            She patted his hand comfortingly.

            “Kagome! How can you defend him after what he’s done to you?!” Ayumi demanded.

            “Because the baby’s not his,” she said calmly.

            “He’s not?”

            “No. Yukio’s parents are dead. Inuyasha and I adopted him after his mother died.”

            Ayumi deflated, all her earlier ire disappearing and she blushed with embarrassment. “Oh. Sorry, I just thought…”

            Inuyasha snorted. “That’s right. You  ** _should_**  be sorry to think I would do such a thing to Kagome.”

            “Inuyasha…” Kagome warned.

            “What? I’m not allowed to defend myself?”

            “Of course you are, but Ayumi doesn’t understand about you and me. She made a wrong assumption, but now we’ve fixed it. It’s okay.”

            “Keh!” he sniffed, but didn’t say anything more.

            “I really am sorry,” Ayumi apologized. “I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

            “Feh! I’ve been called worse. Don’t worry about it.”

            Ayumi looked away, ashamed, but Kagome saw Inuyasha soften and had to smile.  _‘He’s so forgiving. He wants everyone to think he’s hard and cold, but he isn’t. He’s so sweet. I love him so much.’_

            Yukio finished eating and she burped him, giving him a few extra cuddles because the yelling had upset him.

            “How much time is left for lunch?” she asked.

            Ayumi blinked then looked at her watch. “Umm… eight minutes.”

            “That’s enough time,” she commented, taking one of the clean diapers Inuyasha had brought with him and a cleaning cloth. It always amazed her just how much he could carry stuffed in his haori.

            She laid the haori on the concrete floor and put Yukio on it so she could change him, taking care not to dirty the red cloth. Then she put him in the clean diaper and re-dressed him in his snap-on sweat pants, giving his belly a little tickle. He giggled and kicked.

            “It looks like everything is quiet here. You should take him home,” she said, giving his haori back.

            “I’m not leaving you,” he refused, putting the garment on.

            She handed him Yukio when he was ready for him.

            “I don’t think anything is going to happen. Really, it’s okay.”

            “ ** _I’ll_**  say when it’s okay, woman, and I’m not convinced. I’m staying and that’s final.”

            She sighed, rolling her eyes. Ayumi looked to them.

            “Is something wrong?” the girl asked.

            “Someone else knows about Yukio and we were worried she would make trouble for us today, but it doesn’t look like it.”

            “Who?”

            “A doctor who examined me when my mom found out I was lactating. She came to the house yesterday and caused a scene,” she explained.

            “Oh how horrible!”

            She nodded. “But it’s okay. My mom and grandfather took care of it.”

            “Oh.”

            “Anyway, we need to get back,” she said, eating the last of her lunch quickly, then standing up.

            Ayumi and Inuyasha stood with her. She leaned over and kissed Yukio.

            “I love you,” she told the baby. He burbled back at her.

            She kissed Inuyasha on the cheek. “I love you too.”

            He blushed but gave her a small smile.

            “I’ll pick you up after school and take you home,” he told her.

            “Okay. Be safe, put your cap back on and stay out of sight.”

            “Yes, yes, wench, get going or you’ll be late.”

            “And stay out of trouble,” she warned as she and Ayumi headed for the stairs.

            “Me?  ** _You’re_**  the trouble maker!”

            “Be lucky you’re holding Yukio or I’d ‘s’ you.”

            “Feh!”

            She giggled as she and Ayumi went up the stairs.

            “’S’ him?” her friend asked.

            “Long story.”

            “Oh.”

            The rest of the day passed without incident and Inuyasha was true to his word. He met her as soon as she was out of sight of the school and carried her home on his back; leaping from building to building and making her laugh with the rush of excitement and joy she felt whenever she was with him. That night she did her homework, ate dinner with her family, played with her son and made love with her man- twice as promised. In the morning they returned once again to the Sengoku Jidai and resumed their hunt for the Shikon shards.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

 

            One. Two. Three. The oni bellowed and fell with an earth-shaking thud, the body twitching spasmodically.

            “Hah! Take that!” Inuyasha enthused, flushed with victory from the battle and pouring with sweat from the hot summer sun.

            “Is it dead?” Kagome asked hopefully.

            The hanyou gave the monstrous head a good kick, and they heard the sound of bones breaking as the skull twisted around and the neck snapped.

            “If it wasn’t before, it is now,” he replied. “Do you see its shard?”

            She nodded, gulping. “It’s… it’s up its nose.”

            There was a long pause, then Inuyasha blinked at her.

            “Well?”

            “Well what?” she stammered.

            “Are you going to get the damn shard or not? We don’t have all day and we still have to get Shippou and the pup.”

            Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she knelt down and moved to stick her hand up the dead oni’s bulbous nose.

            “This is so grooooossssssss,” she whined, turning pleading eyes his way.

            Rolling his eyes, he severed the nose from the skull and split the thing down its middle.

            “There. Now you don’t have to stick your hand up its nose,” he told her.

            Kagome closed her eyes and quickly picked out the exposed shard. It came out with a sickeningly wet pop and she pulled her hand back, trying not to heave at her green goo-covered fingers.

            “I need a bath or boiling water or an antiseptic cloth! This is so  ** _gross!_** ”

            “Bah! Just wipe your hand off with one of your napkins and be done with it, woman. For someone who has no trouble changing a dirty diaper, you’re very squeamish,” Inuyasha scoffed, snorting, but his eyes were twinkling with amusement.

            “That’s different,” she complained, holding her hand as far away from herself as possible.

            “Keh!”

            They walked together side-by-side until Kagome reached out to take his hand in her clean one. He smiled at her and stole a quick kiss. She smiled back.

            “Oh, it’s so hot. I can’t wait to get back to the village. I’m going to swim in the river and spend the rest of my time in the den. It stays nice and cool in there,” she sighed.

            “Not to mention no one’s there to see you naked but me,” he added, giving her a sly smile.

            She slapped his arm lightly. “You’re still a letch.”

            “And it’s still your fault.”

            They came to a stream and Kagome went for it.

            “I’m going to wash off my hands,” she said.

            He nodded. “I’ll go get Shippou and the pup.”

            “Okay. Meet me back here.”

            He gave a grunt of agreement and bounded off, leaping through the forest until he found the old tree he was looking for. A large rock had been wedged between two of the roots, and this he grabbed and pulled away.

            “Oi…” he said, reaching into the hollow under the tree’s roots.

            “Kitsune-bi!” came a loud shout just as foxfire flashed in his face.

            “Oi! What the fuck did you do that for!?” he yelled, rubbing his stinging eyes.

            “Inuyasha! What are you doing?! Don’t just pull the rock back and try to grab us without saying who you are!?” the kitsune kit scolded, popping up out of the makeshift hiding place.

            “Who the hell else knows you’re in there?” the adult hanyou countered.

            The kit scowled at him. “I don’t know! I’m supposed to protect Yukio. If someone opens the den and I don’t know who it is, I’m gonna attack!”

            Kirara gave a little mew of agreement as she hopped out of the hollow, her tails flicking. Ever since the incident with Kouga, the firecat had come along on every shard hunt.

            “You could use your nose! No one else smells like me,” Inuyasha scowled, still angry.

            Shippou wrinkled his nose and sneezed. “You smell like dead Oni.”

            He was about to argue when a third figure began to rise from the hole, puppy ears perked up and golden eyes wide. One little pudgy hand grabbed a root for balance as the pup lifted himself out, his small body dressed in a gray hakama gathered at the ankles like his father’s and his red ‘Big Dog’ shirt which was almost too small for him now.

            “’Tou!” Yukio burbled, and Inuyasha’s anger melted.

            He knelt down and opened his arms as the pup plopped into them when he lost his balance.

            “Hey, pup,” he said fondly.

            :Leader-male.: “’Tou,” Yukio said in both inu-youkai and spoken words.

            Inuyasha, in an attempt to encourage Yukio to speak, had started to respond only when he tried to use words so now the pup used both almost simultaneously.

             _‘Smart little whelp,’_  he thought proudly.

            True to his prediction, the pup- now eight months old but looking like a human 12-month old- had started walking and talking about two weeks ago or rather toddling and gibbering. They still had no translations for  ** _some_**  of the sounds he made.

            Picking Yukio up, he balanced him against his side and rubbed his ears. The pup smiled, revealing a full set of teeth- razor sharp fangs included- and one little hand grabbed his haori while the other clutched a headless teddy bear. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

             _‘Another one. That’s the fifth one so far. Kagome and her mother are going to be angry when they see he’s done it again.’_

            Kagome and her mother had been trying to give the pup toys to play with, most of which were completely unsuitable for a hanyou infant. Instead of taking his advice and giving the pup rocks and wooden sticks and things too big for him to fit into his mouth, they gave him things like rattles and ‘mobiles’ and stuffed animals. Yukio smashed the rattles, ignored the mobiles, and decapitated the stuffed animals.

             _‘He’s a fucking **hanyou** , idiots! He’s ten times as strong as one of your human whelps!’_

            :Mother-female.: “Kaa?”

            “Don’t worry, Kaa-san is close. I’m taking you to her now,” he replied.

            Still looking at Yukio, Inuyasha extended his other arm in invitation and Shippou hopped into it, wrapping his legs around Inuyasha’s hip, then Kirara mewed and jumped onto his shoulder.

            “Where’s Kagome?” Shippou asked as Inuyasha began to walk in the direction of Kagome.

            “Washing her hands. She got Oni nose guts on them,” he replied.

            “Oni nose guts?”

            “The shard was in the damn thing’s nose. I guess it didn’t have the brains to put it anywhere else.”

            “Was it hard to kill?” the kit asked.

            “Keh! Are you kidding? I didn’t even draw Tessaiga.”

            “I’m glad. After that spider-youkai we fought last time, I’m glad this one was easy.”

            Shippou was referring to their last shard hunt, which had them battling against a spider demon very much like the one they had defeated two years ago. This one had proven to be quite a challenge and both Kagome and Inuyasha had been injured. Kagome, to Inuyasha’s horror, had been bitten on the leg. Thankfully, stabbing herself with her own purifying arrow had prevented the poison from spreading. After the demon was dead, Inuyasha had ripped open the wound and sucked the poison out himself, then Kagome treated it with an intensive infusion of herbs and her own modern anti-venom medicine.

            Fear of residual poison had caused her to not nurse Yukio for several days; something the pup loudly protested even though he did fine on rice and fish, and when he was finally allowed to nurse again, he’d almost torn her open with his teeth. Kagome was trying to wean him, but had been unsuccessful so far. Inuyasha had told her to just stop giving in when he threw his tantrums, but Kagome just couldn’t stand to see her baby cry. In truth, he could understand the pup’s reluctance to give up his teat, and he’d told Kagome so.

            “You’re warm, smell familiar, and the milk tastes good. He gets cuddled, petted and loved when he feeds. Now you’re telling him he won’t have those things anymore. I wouldn’t want to be weaned either,” he’d explained one afternoon when she was bemoaning her problem.

            She’d given him a sly look and replied, “What makes you think you are?”

            She, of course, was referring to  ** _his_**  fondness for her breasts when they were making love. He’d stammered, then blushed, then called her bluff and tackled her. They didn’t discuss Yukio’s weaning problem for the rest of the afternoon.

            He cleared the trees, carrying his precious cargo and Kagome turned to see them approaching. Her eyes widened and then she covered her mouth to hold back a laugh. He paused, confused and irritated.

            “What?” he demanded.  _‘What’s that look for, wench?’_

            “I... I saw you coming out of the woods carrying Yukio, Shippou and Kirara, and for a moment you... you looked like Jizo,” she snickered.

            “Eh?”

            He took a moment to consider his situation. In one arm he held his pup. In the other he held the kitsune kit, balanced on his hip. The firecat in her kitten form was clinging to his shoulder, her fur tickling the side of his neck. He did look like Jizo.

_‘What the Hell? I’m going soft!’_

            Giggling, Shippou jumped down, as did Kirara.

            “Argh! Get off me!” he yelled as he quickly shoved Yukio into his mother’s arms.

            “Inuyasha as the patron saint of small children? I don’t think so. He’s too small-minded of a guy,” Shippou teased.

            “Oi!”

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome scolded gently, preventing him from thumping the kit on the head.

            “You’re making it sound like I’m some kind of sentimental wimp!” he complained.

            She batted her eyes at him and gave him the look that always made his heart beat faster and his stomach flutter, and other parts of him grow hot and heavy. One finger tickled his throat as she leaned close.

            “But you are sentimental...” she whispered in his ear, taking extra care to blow softly into it.

            He growled under his breath, feeling frustrated because he knew there’d be no relief until they got back to the village, and he’d already gone without for the three days they’d been traveling. Kagome refused to make love with Kirara and Shippou present so he hadn’t even bothered to ask, but he was really starting to  ** _itch_**  and if he didn’t get  ** _scratched_**  soon…

            She gave him a wry smile and a hooded look.

            ‘ _Wench knows it too. She knows what she does to me,’_  he thought dourly, then brightened a bit.  _‘But she knows what I do to her and I intend to make her suffer... and beg... and...’_

            His thoughts of revenge did nothing to quell his arousal and he growled again. Shippou gave him a knowing look and Yukio blinked his way.

             _‘Maybe I can steal her for a few minutes when we make camp tonight... The cat can pup-sit for a bit, right? I’ll bribe her with some nice fish...’_

            “Ah, jeeze, are you two at it again?” Shippou teased. “There are little kids present, you know.”

            “Keh!” he scoffed.  _‘As if that’s ever stopped me. Kagome would blush to know how many times Yukio’s watched us when she thought he was sleeping.’_

            He gave Kagome a heated look and she flushed a little, dropping her eyes.

             _‘That’s my Kagome. Wild tennyo of lovemaking by night, but shy, blushing virgin by day. Heh, she’d call me insatiable sex-fiend by night and impossible letch by day, but I just can’t help it. She breathes in my ear and I want her. Or the sunlight catches in her hair. Or she smiles at me. Or she plays with Yukio and I hear her laugh. Everything. Everything about her excites me. Is that normal? Is this how that letch monk feels? No wonder he propositioned every girl in sight. Not that I’d ever be with anyone who wasn’t Kagome. Kagome’s the only one for me. She’s the only one who’s ever loved me for me. Not even Kikyou did that.’_

            Kikyou. No one had seen or heard anything of Kikyou for months, and he often wondered where the undead miko was located. Not that he was eager to see his former love, but it was worrisome.

_‘I hope nothing has happened to her. With Naraku dead, are there any enemies out there powerful enough to hurt her?’_

            “Kaa,” Yukio burbled, drawing his attention back to his present company.

            Kagome nuzzled the pup and addressed him in words and in inu-youkai. Her grasp of the demon language amazed him. In such a short time she had learned most of the sounds she could make with her human throat, and understood a good deal more than that.

            “How’s my little big dog?” she said, bouncing Yukio on her hip.

            “Kaa!” the pup enthused, eyes bright and happy, one hand waving the headless bear.

            Kagome saw the decapitated toy, rolled her eyes and sighed. “Did it again, huh?”

            He shrugged. “I told you he would. You and your mother should just give up and do as I say, and only get him toys made of stone and wood.”

            “Oh like the rocks you gave him to teethe on.”

            He snorted. “They worked didn’t they? And he didn’t break them like he did your plaass-taaccckkk teething things. How many did he eat? Six? Seven? They were a waste of money. At least rocks and sticks are free.”

            She gave him a dour look but didn’t answer. Instead she turned her attention to Shippou.

            “Did you have any problems in your hiding place, Shippou?” she asked the kit.

            “No. Not until  ** _someone_**  pulled the rock away without telling us who he was,” Shippou replied, giving him an angry look. He glared back and huffed.

            “Keh! Brat should have known it was me!”

            “How was I supposed to know it was you when you stink of dead Oni? Why don’t you take a bath?”

_‘I’d love to. Preferably a warm one with Kagome. But then we wouldn’t get clean. At least not right away. Damn, I have **got**  to bribe the cat…’_

            “Why you…!” he growled.

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome warned and he cringed.

_‘At least she warns me now before she sits me. I’m not getting sat nearly as much as I used to.’_

            It was true. Kagome hadn’t used the s-word on him for almost a month. The last time she had made him eat dirt was the day Miroku and Sango’s daughter was born. He had been waiting outside the hut with the nervous houshi, watching the man fret and pace while Kagome was in with Kaede and Sango. The birth was taking a long time and Miroku had been frightened. Human births were very dangerous, and both women and pups died during it all the time, so the man had good reason to be worried about the health and safety of his wife and unborn child. He’d decided that day to make sure Kagome gave birth to their pups in her world where medicine and doctors were much better, and women and pups didn’t die nearly as often.

            At one point he’d considered knocking the agitated man out just so he would stop pacing and fussing. He was upsetting Yukio with his actions and the pup wouldn’t settle down. Besides, pacing and worrying were useless. The pup and Sango were in the hands of the women, and they were doing something women had been helping other women do for centuries. In truth he wasn’t that worried himself because he knew Kagome had brought some of her modern medicine to help make sure both mother and pup would be okay after the birth, and he had complete confidence in her and Kaede’s abilities.

            Finally, after a very long time, and after several disturbing cries from Sango and shouts of encouragement from Kagome as she ‘coached’ Sango through the birth, the noxious smell of blood mixed with something else hit his nose. It was overwhelming and both he and Shippou had turned slightly green. Then the unmistakable cry of a newborn had split the air, and Miroku’s face had frozen in shock before he rushed up to the reed door. Kagome had met him at the entrance, her face flushed and sweaty as if  ** _she_**  had been the one bringing a pup into the world. She had smiled at the new father and told him he had a baby girl. Miroku had smiled the widest smile any of them had ever seen on his face and ran in to see his wife and daughter. Kagome had given him and Shippou looks that said it was okay for them to come in too.

            He’d gone in, still a little dizzy from the smell, but not wanting to seem unsupportive, and taken in the sight of the exhausted but oddly beatific taijiya and her tiny pup. Really, the pup wasn’t even half the size Yukio had been when he was only two months old. It was this red-faced, squirming, bald thing about the size of a boar piglet. He’d stared at it, scratching his head, and innocently asked if all human pups were born looking like beet-faced piglets.

            He hadn’t even had time to realize what he’d said was wrong before his face hit the hut floor and he was kicked out for being ‘an insensitive, stupid jerk.’ His only vindication was that Shippou had whispered that he’d been secretly wondering the same thing.

            “At least kitsune kits are born with hair,” the fox had said.

            He’d grunted in agreement but wisely kept his mouth shut.

            Ever since, Kagome had been spending most of her time helping Sango handle the responsibilities of being a new, first-time mother. Human pups were much more fragile than inu-youkai or hanyou pups, and every little thing was a potential hazard. Seeing what went into keeping a human pup alive, he wondered how any of them ever lived to adulthood; yet no one could deny that humans were breeding like crazy, and he knew from his time in the future that their ‘weak’ species had taken over the world.

            He was jealous of the time Kagome spent with the taijiya because it cut into the time she normally spent with him, and he didn’t like sharing her to begin with. But Kagome wouldn’t say no to Sango when the woman asked for help, so he had to deal with her absence as best he could. Shard hunts were even more welcome than usual because it meant they’d be getting out of the village. Even though Shippou and Kirara came with them, and they had Yukio, it still meant that he would have Kagome pretty much to himself until they returned. Because of that, he didn’t care how much feeding and changing Yukio slowed them down when they were traveling. It just meant that the trips would take longer and he was fine with that.

             _‘Keh, I don’t even mind ‘helping people’ if it drags out the trip some. And if I can get the cat to pup and kit-sit, that’s even better.’_

            “Feh, let’s make camp,” he said.

            “But it’s not even getting dark,” Shippou replied.

            “This is the only decent fishing stream within walking distance. If we stay here and head for the village in the morning, we’ll be better off than heading home tonight and having to camp somewhere where there’s no food or water."

            Shippou gave him a look that said, ‘You just want to be alone with Kagome.’ He shrugged and sent back a look that replied, ‘Yeah. What of it?’ The kit dropped his gaze and looked elsewhere. He smiled with victory.

            Together they made camp and prepared to settle in for the night. On his way to catch that evening’s dinner, he motioned for Kirara to join him. The firecat mewed and followed.

            “Okay, if I catch you a nice fish all your own, will you pup-sit for a while tonight?”

            The cat gave him a look that was all smug feline and mewed what amounted to ‘two fish.’

            “Two?”

            Kirara nodded.

            “Deal.”

            He put out his hand and Kirara placed her paw in it, sealing the pact.

_‘Okay, now for the fish…’_

            He could be a damn good hunter and fisher when sufficiently motivated, and the promise of being alone with Kagome without the interruption of the pups was incentive enough. He caught two mid-size carp for Kirara and presented them to her for inspection. When she approved, he returned to the stream to catch dinner for the rest of them and nabbed five more fish. Kagome seasoned them and put them on spits to roast, and they ate it with rice and some legumes and berries that Shippou had gathered.

            Towards the middle of the meal, he sidled up to Kagome and blew a soft puff of air against the nape of her neck and nuzzled her left earlobe. It was his little gesture that meant he wanted her and asked for her attentions. She could respond one of three ways: leaning back into his warmth which meant ‘Yes.’ and he could expect her to join him shortly; leaning back into his warmth but with a touch on his wrist which meant ‘Yes, but later.’ and he would have to wait until she was ready; or she could not lean back at all which meant ‘No, not tonight.’

            In all the times he had asked to make love, she’d told him ‘later’ only a handful of times and she’d never said no. Tonight she looked in askance at him.

            “Kirara’s gonna pup-sit for us,” he whispered, answering her unspoken question.

            “Ah, so  ** _that’s_**  why she has two fish and looks like a cat that got into the cream,” she answered, leaning back into him. “Good. You’ve been getting cranky.”

 _‘She said yes. Oh yeah, she said yes…’_  Her hand touched his wrist and his elation dimmed a little.  _‘Yes but later. Damn. Well, I suppose it is a bit early…’_

            “I have to feed Yukio, and change him, and get him ready for the night. Then we can go have our time. I know it’s been three days for you, but just wait a little longer. Okay?” she explained.

            He sighed. “Okay.”

            She gave him a kiss that held a good deal of promise and he contented himself with that for the time being.

            :Leader-male.: “’Tou!” Yukio said, toddling over to him and plopping down into his lap.

            “Whaddya want, pup?” he asked, settling his son on his knee.

            The pup smiled widely at him and opened his arms, letting his little body fall against his father’s chest, big eyes sparkling up at him. He smiled back and rubbed Yukio’s back.

            “’Tou.” :Leader-male, new den?:

            He shook his head. :No. Pack rests then moves.:

            :Where pack?: the pup asked, causing Inuyasha to smile.

_‘He knows some pack members are missing.’_

            :Home at den.:

            :We home too?:

            :When light comes, pack moves.:

            Yukio nodded and looked around the camp from his place in his father’s lap, big eyes casting about. He caught sight of Shippou and grinned.

            “Ip-po.”

            Shippou, hearing Yukio’s name for him, came over and sat on Inuyasha’s other knee.

            “Hey Yukio.”

            Yukio gurgled and pushed himself towards the kit, half falling into Shippou’s arms.

            “Ip-po.” :Pack-brother.:

            The kitsune hugged the pup and the adult hanyou put loose arms around them both. Shippou had become the closest thing to a brother the pup had and he took his responsibility of protecting Yukio very seriously.

_‘He didn’t hesitate to blast me with fox fire today. If I’d been an enemy, he’d have bought Kirara enough time to transform and attack.’_

            It helped that Yukio recognized and adored the fox kit. Actually, Yukio loved just about everyone. He was the most open and affectionate pup Inuyasha had ever known.

_‘Heh, that’s your mother’s influence there, pup.’_

            Yukio was hugs, kisses, nuzzles and little growls of welcome. He was rarely cranky or moody unless you woke him up or interrupted him while he was eating. Mostly he was a well-fed, happy, bubbly pup who brightened the mood of anyone he was around.

            Inuyasha patted the heads of both pups in his lap and smiled at Shippou.

            “You did good today, Shippou,” he said, praising the kit. “If I had been a real enemy, you would have given Kirara enough time to get out and fight.”

            Shippou blinked in surprise then smiled. It didn’t take a genius to know that the kit saw him and Kagome as his adoptive family. He’d been with them even before Miroku and Sango had joined the group, and even though they loved to mutually torment each other, he and the kit were also fiercely protective of each other as well.

            He remembered a night in a time that seemed so very long ago. It had been shortly after Shippou had joined them, and he had teased the kit mercilessly about when he was ‘going to go home.’ Kagome had gotten angry at his taunts and sat him a couple of times, shutting him up. Late that night, however, he was awakened by Shippou’s whimpering cries and he realized that the kit was having a nightmare. He’d heard the words ‘Otou’ and ‘Hiten’ and little sobbing pleas of fear and grief. He’d crept over to where the kit had curled up on top of Kagome’s ‘sleeping bag’ and gently woke him. When the kit opened his eyes, he’d taken Shippou into his lap and soothed him.

            “Manten and Hiten. I dreamed…” Shippou had sniffled, clutching his haori in his fists.

            “They’re dead now,” he’d assured him. “They can’t hurt you ever again.”

            “You killed them. Thank you. You avenged my father. I… I was too small and weak.”

            “Feh, you did what you could, but you’re just a pup. Someday you’ll be bigger and you’ll be able to protect yourself.”

            Shippou had nodded. “But until then I’m alone and I have nowhere to go.”

            “What do you mean?” he’d asked. “You’re with us now.”

            “I can stay with you? But I thought…”

            “Keh! It will never be said that I left a child helpless and abandoned. Besides, Kagome can use someone other than me around. I’m not much company for her most days.”

            The kit had nodded. “You are a meanie most of the time,” he’d commented, but he’d said it with a smile.

            “So your job is to make Kagome happy, okay?”

            “Okay.”

            From that night on, no more was said about Shippou ‘going home’ and it was tacitly agreed upon that he was now part of their group. He’d done his job well, regaling Kagome with stories and kitsune magic, and the girl had loved him. In time, Inuyasha had come to love him as well, and ever since Yukio had come into their lives, his paternal feelings had bled over to the kit even more. He didn’t see Shippou as his own son, but he did see the kitsune as a pack pup who needed protection and guidance. Now the kit was returning the favor by looking after Yukio when his father had to fight.

            Yukio giggled as Shippou used one of his kitsune tricks to mimic fireflies, causing tiny blinking lights to flash all around the pup’s head. Yukio watched the flashing lights, smiling, and tried to catch them in his pudgy hands. Every time he managed to grab one it would disappear with a little ‘pop’ and a shower of sparks. The display even made him laugh as he watched the two youngsters’ antics.

            “Okay little man, it’s time for your dinner,” Kagome said, picking up Yukio.

            “Kaa,” he burbled.

            :Hungry?: she asked. It was a rhetorical question most of the time.

 _‘Keh, pup would rather nurse than sleep or breathe,’_  he thought with amusement.

            “Ya! Kaa! Oood.” :Hungry! Mother-female. Food!:

            Kagome laughed at his baby talk and nuzzled him. Inuyasha took the opportunity to drape his haori over her shoulders. She didn’t really need or use it anymore, but it was their little ritual and it kept the garment smelling of her. She pulled it over the top of her breasts as she gave the pup his nipple and cuddled him while he nursed.

             _‘Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be weaned if it meant I’d lose that either,_ ’ he mused, watching Kagome rock and sing softly to her son while he fed.

            Of course he knew that weaning the pup wouldn’t mean he would lose the cuddles or the songs or the lullabies or any of the other things Kagome did, but Yukio didn’t understand that. And to be honest, nothing would ever replace the emotional satisfaction a baby got from nursing, from knowing his mother fed and cared for him.

            When he was finished nursing, she fed him his solid food of cooked fish, rice and vegetables. It wasn’t all that different from the gruel they had first fed him except that it didn’t have to be as soft. Inuyasha had started giving him meat in small pieces as well when it was available. As a result of Yukio eating so much solid food, Kagome had begun to make less and less milk and nursed him less frequently.

_‘I almost feel bad for the whelp, but he has to be weaned sometime. He can’t suckle forever. I’d give it another three months before he’s off the teat completely.’_

            He waited while Kagome finished feeding and changing Yukio then they sat together by the fire. Kirara transformed into her full firecat form and acted as a comfortable, purring pillow for both the pup and the kitsune kit, and not long after snuggling into her soft fur both of them were sound asleep. Kagome covered them with a blanket and tucked her scarf in next to Yukio so he would have her scent close by. Then she gave him a come hither look and offered him her hand. He responded with a grin that soon turned into a sexy smile, and took her offering, standing up and pulling her to him.

            His heart pounded in his chest as he kissed her passionately, his senses going into overload at the feel, smell and taste of her. Then he picked her up, gave Kirara a grateful nod and carried his lover bridal-style off to a more private location.

_‘Thanks, cat! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful arrangement.’_

            Morning found him one very happy and sated hanyou, and he once again thanked Kirara for her cooperation. The firecat gave him an agreeing mew. From her perspective it was probably easy work. She got extra fish and all she had to do was watch two sleeping youngsters for a couple of hours. She got something she wanted,  ** _he_** got something he really wanted, the pup and kit were supervised and protected, and everyone was happy- mainly him. From his point of view, it was perfect.

            They ate breakfast, broke camp and headed for home as fast as Inuyasha could go. He wasn’t really in a terrible hurry to get back to the village, but he just loved the rush of using his power and after his night with Kagome he was feeling very dominant. That and he loved how his seemingly reckless jumps made Kagome cling to him. Her secret places would brush up against his back and he could excite her if he arched his spine in just the right way. He often wondered if she knew he was doing it deliberately, but if she did she never said anything. However, she would be a very eager and willing partner after one of those  ** _rides_**.

            “Ooof! Don’t go so fast!” she cried as he leaped to the crown of another tree.

            “What? I thought you wanted to get back to the village to ‘swim in the river and spend the rest of the time in the den’?” he answered.

            “I want to get there in one piece!”

            Yukio giggled at the wind in his ears from his place in the carrier on Kagome’s back.

            “Heh! Pup loves it! Don’t be so nervous. I’ve never dropped you, have I?”

            “N... no...” she stammered and gripped him more tightly.

            He hitched his arms further under her thighs and pulled her tighter onto his back, loving the feel of her legs wrapped around his hips.

            “Do you want to ride up here on Kirara with me Kagome?” Shippou asked as the firecat flew alongside them.

            Inuyasha scowled and went faster. “Keh! You think I’ll let her go whelp!?”

            “Inu-ya-ah-sh-a-a-a!” she cried.

            He just laughed and jumped into the open air.

            They stopped for lunch and a rest. When it was time to leave, Kagome refused to ride him if he was going to run wild again so he promised to go a little slower. In truth, he had a particular destination in mind that he wanted to get to before nightfall: a lovely little spot near a hot spring, and his mad dash in the morning had brought them within walking distance, so he was happy to take it easy. Besides, he needed to take care of the evening’s dinner and water supply because the hot spring had no fishing stream nearby.

            “You want a bath?” he asked her as they traveled at a sedate pace. In a way he was glad they had slowed down because the summer sun had made it another hot, sweltering day.

            “A bath?” she asked, and he could hear her interest.

             _‘You and your hot baths,’_ he thought fondly _. ‘But I fully plan to get in there with you so…’_

            “Yeah, remember that hot spring we passed on the way out here?”

            “We’re going there?” she asked eagerly.

            “Yeah, why do you think I was going so fast? We’ll make it before nightfall.”

            She slid her arms around his shoulders and hugged him, making her breasts press against his back, and kissed his cheek happily.

            “You are so sweet and wonderful. I love you.”

_‘I never get tired of hearing you say that.’_

            His body shivered in reaction to her closeness and in anticipation of taking a bath with her.

            “Keh, as well you should,” he teased. “I’m far better to you than any other man has ever been.”

            She hummed an agreement and hitched her legs higher on his hips, pressing her soft spot right against his spine.

            “Yes, and I’m better to you than any other woman has ever been,” she whispered huskily.

            Desire flooded through him, making his vision cloud for a moment, and he had to stop for a few seconds to get his body under control before he embarrassed himself.

            “That goes without saying,” he answered breathlessly.

            Her small chuckle tickled the back of his neck and she rubbed her secret place against his back deliberately. The scent of her arousal hit his nose mixed with the scent of her heat.

_‘Shit. She’s coming into heat.’_

            This was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was a good thing in that her heat cycle increased her desire for him. Her body- ripe for a pup- made her want him and she would be much more likely to initiate lovemaking. In fact, her sexual desire during her heats was almost enough to wear  ** _him_**  out, and some of their wildest joinings had happened when she was in heat. She was also coming into it more regularly as she nursed Yukio less and less, her body slowly returning to normal from its switch to lactating female.

            The bad thing was that he had to wear the stupid artificial sheaths. Kagome didn’t trust the herbs the old woman had given her to prevent her from getting pregnant so she made him wear the sheaths as an added precaution. She did promise, however, that he could stop wearing them once it didn’t matter if the herbs didn’t work and she got pregnant, which would be sometime after she turned nineteen and had graduated from high school. He very much looked forward to that time.

            Even though she got the ‘thin’ ones, the things still pinched and reduced the sensations he felt. Still, wearing them was better than not being able to have her at all, and if the reduced sensation caused him to last longer then that could be very pleasurable as well. He found that he could hold back through her climaxes, and then be able to make her build again without climaxing himself and having to pull out. It made for some very long love making sessions where he would bring her to her peak repeatedly and keep going after she’d stopped shuddering. The only trouble with them was that sometimes her natural wetness would dry up, but she had stuff from her world that could replace it until her body replenished itself.

_‘But did she bring the stuff with us?’_

            If there were no sheaths, they couldn’t make love and he didn’t like the thought of that.

            “Do we have those sheaths with us?” he asked softly, not wanting Shippou to hear them.

            “The condoms?” she answered just as softly.

            “Yeah, those things.”

            “Am I?...”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “I think we have a package in my bag.”

            He practically sighed with relief.  _‘Oh good…’_

            “Good.”

            She giggled. “Why? Do you have plans that involve using them?”

            “You keep rubbing against me and I’ll use them right here under these trees, and I won’t care if we have an audience.”

            “Horny dog, and after last night too.”

            “Keh, you think one night will sate me after not having you for three days?”

            “You’re never sated.”

            “Heh, your fault.”

            She snuggled into his shoulder. “I know.”

            Smiling to himself, he picked up the pace a little. He took them to a place he hoped was full of small game. It was a clearing in the forest covered in tall grass and it looked like a perfect place to hunt rabbits and ground birds. He put Kagome and Yukio down and told her to fill up their water containers in a nearby stream, then he, Kirara and Shippou hunted in the meadow.

            They caught four rabbits and two ground birds, and Shippou found a patch of flavorful mushrooms. Kagome could mix the meat and mushrooms with some of her instant food and make a nice stew. It could cook on the fire that evening while Kagome was taking her bath.

            Dinner secured, Kagome got onto his back again and they headed for the hot springs . They arrived at dusk with plenty of time to set up camp and for Kagome to start dinner before it became full dark. Once the camp was ready, Kagome excused herself to bathe.

            “And where do you think you’re going?” he asked Shippou when the kit moved to follow Kagome to the spring.

            “I’m gonna go take a bath with Kagome,” the kitsune answered.

            “No you’re not.  ** _I’m_**  going to go take a bath with Kagome. You can go in after I come back.”

            Shippou gave him a knowing look. “You’re not going there to take a bath.”

            Without Kagome there to stop him, he bopped the kit on the head. “Oi. Mind your own business.”

            “Whaah! I’m telling Kagome!”

            “Fine, go ahead.  ** _After_**  I get back from the bath. In the meantime, watch Yukio and the stew.”

            “You take too long and I’ll eat it all without you and not save you any!” Shippou threatened.

            He snorted and followed Kagome. He found her already naked and in the water, her hair put up in a messy bun on her head. Smiling, he stripped and slipped in, embracing her from behind and kissing her neck.

            “Mmmm. I think I’ve caught a water tennyo. Legends say a man who catches a water tennyo is granted his every wish,” he purred in her ear.

            “Mmmm-hmmmm,” she sighed, turning in his embrace and straddling him. “And what is your wish?”

            He pulled her closer, growling softly. “You know what I wish.”

            “Well, since you’ve caught me, your wish is my command,” she replied coyly.

            He stroked her sides and licked the hollow of her throat. “Ooo, I like the sound of that.”

            She laughed softly. “I’m sure you do.”

            “Where’s that damn sheath?”

            “Over there,” she replied, pointing in the direction of her bathing supplies. A familiar little packet lay beside them. “But we don’t need it right now, do we?”

            He picked her up and laid her down on the bank of the spring, his hips between her legs as he leaned over her, licking and caressing.

            “Soon.”

            She moaned and gave herself over to him, her arms coming up to stroke his back and tangle in his hair.

            He could never get enough of her: her body, her scent, the sound of her voice, everything about her. Every time they made love he was humbled by her trust in him. Each time he asked to have her, he half expected her to refuse him. He kept waiting for her to come to her senses and realize that he was a lowly hanyou who was unworthy of her, but she always welcomed him into her bed and her body with joy and love. Even now when he fumbled in his need and haste, she only giggled and asked him what his hurry was.

             _‘I still don’t deserve you. I don’t think I ever will. What half-breed deserves a woman like you? You are my tennyo. A tennyo of love who came to heal my broken heart. I do love you Kagome. I do. I love you so much. And someday I’ll build you a house and live in it with you for as long as we both shall live.’_

            Their joining did take a little longer because of the sheath, but his urgency and need from being denied her for three days made up for it, and he reached his peak at the same time she did.

            Afterwards, she took the sheath off of him, rinsed it out and put it in her bag. Anything that wouldn’t rot in the ground, she always brought back to her world to dispose of so she wouldn’t pollute his time. Looking at the sheath, he once again marveled at its effectiveness and the simplicity of the design.

            Kagome had once bought a ‘variety pack’ just for fun and showed him the different shapes the sheaths could come in. There was one with soft spikes while another had ridges and still another had little bumps all over it. She had explained that the shapes were meant to increase a woman’s pleasure. He’d snorted and said it wasn’t the woman who needed help to increase pleasure, but the man who was wearing the damn thing. Still, they’d tried the one with the spikes just to see what would happen. While he’d hated it because it was much thicker than their normal kind, her reaction had been… interesting. They’d never used them again because he couldn’t climax while wearing them, but he often wished that their thin kind had come in the different shapes just to see her react that way again.

            “I should wash and head back. Shippou wanted to bathe with you,” he said as they slipped back into the warm water.

            “Mmmm, okay. I think I’ll soak a bit.”

            He kissed her, chuckling. “I knew you would.”

            She gave him a sweet smile. “You know me so well. Thank you for remembering this place and bringing us here.”

            He smiled back and nuzzled her. “Thank you for being with me.”

            “I love being with you.”

             _‘I love being with you too, my Kagome.’_  He sighed and kissed her again, before dunking his head under the water to wet his hair.

            Kagome had ‘shampoo’ covered hands when he came up and she scrubbed his hair, using the pads of her fingers to rub his scalp the way he liked. When his hair was clean he rinsed it and washed his body, refusing to let her do it because he knew they didn’t really have time to make love again.

            “What took you so long? Yukio almost went after you,” Shippou complained when he got back to camp.

            Yukio was sitting next to Kirara in her full firecat form and looking rather put out.

            “’Tou!” he cried when he saw his father.

            “My hair takes a long time to wash,” he answered neutrally, staring the kit down.

            “I’m going now,” Shippou said.

            He nodded and sat down next to Kirara, pulling the pup into his lap.

            “’Tou,” he sniffled, sucking his thumb. :Leader-male. You went away.:

            “Pup,” he answered, rubbing Yukio’s ears. :I always come back.:

            “Kaa?” :Mother-female?:

            “She’ll be here soon. She is washing.”

            The pup looked like he was going to start fussing so he decided to distract him.

            “Here,” he said, giving the pup a rock he’d fished from the hot spring.

            Yukio grabbed it with both hands and started gnawing on it happily. He smiled and shook his head.

_‘Rips up Kagome’s toys but give him a rock and he’s happy.’_

            Kagome returned with Shippou a short time later and they had dinner. Afterwards they settled down for the night and cuddled up in Kagome’s large two-person sleeping bag with Yukio between them, Shippou sleeping at Kagome’s head and Kirara curled at their feet.

            In the morning they finished the trip back to the village and arrived by mid-afternoon. After checking in with Sango, Miroku and Kaede, and leaving Shippou with the miko so he could help her separate herbs, he and Kagome headed for the den. The day was proving to be another scorcher and they were eager to escape into the coolness of the forest.

            He caught the unfamiliar yet familiar scent before they’d even reached the hillside, and all his senses went on full alert.

_‘I know this scent…’_

            He hadn’t smelled it in almost a year, but he knew it right away.

            “What is it?” Kagome asked him as she took his hand.

            “We have a visitor,” he answered.

            “Huh?”

            They cleared a set of trees and the mound that held their den came into view. Sitting on top of it, playing with a bunch of picked flowers, was a little human girl they knew all too well. Kagome gasped and stopped in her tracks, but Rin saw her and offered a huge happy smile of welcome.

            “Kagome-sama! Inuyasha-sama! Rin is so glad to see you. Sesshoumaru-sama said to wait right here for you and here you are!”


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two  

 

            “Rin-chan,” Kagome greeted, going to the little girl.

            Rin hopped down from the top of the small hill and met her at the bottom.

            “Rin picked flowers for Kagome-sama,” she said, offering the bouquet of wildflowers.

            Kagome accepted them and put them to her nose. “Thank you, Rin. They’re lovely.”

            “Where is he?” he demanded, going over to them. “Where’s my brother?”

_‘He has to be around here somewhere. His scent is fresh…’_

            “Sesshoumaru-sama brought Rin here then he went away. Rin is to stay with you until Sesshoumaru-sama comes for her.”

_‘Huh? He dropped the kid off with us? What the fuck is that all about?’_

            “Oooooh, who is that?” Rin asked as Kagome took Yukio out of the carrier on her back.

            Kagome cast him a knowing glance as they both realized the potential danger.

_‘That damn wolf is one thing. Sesshoumaru is another. If he tries to take the pup…’_

            His hand gripped Tessaiga tightly, his senses on full alert and he placed himself in a defensive position.

            He saw Kagome sit down next to Rin with Yukio in her lap. Her face calm, but her body tense.

_‘She’s trying not to upset the pup or the girl.’_

            “This is Yukio.”

            Rin giggled. “He looks just like Inuyasha-sama!”

            “Yes, he does. That’s because he’s an inu-hanyou, just like Inuyasha.”

            “Is he your baby, Kagome-sama?”

            Kagome smiled and shook her head. “No. Yukio is an orphan, but Inuyasha and I have adopted him.”

            “Oooo! Like Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin. Rin is an orphan too…” Her little face grew sad and forlorn. “Bandits killed Rin’s family. She was all alone until she found Sesshoumaru-sama in the forest.”

            Kagome nodded. “Rin-chan, do you know why Sesshoumaru-sama brought you here?”

            The little girl nodded, her dark eyes wide with fear. “Sesshoumaru-sama said Rin would be safe here. Bad people are trying to take Sesshoumaru-sama’s land away.”

_‘So someone is threatening the Western Lands, eh? That’s why he brought the whelp here. To get her out of the battle zone.’_

            “Bad people?” Kagome repeated.

            Rin nodded. “But Sesshoumaru-sama is great and powerful. He will defeat them and come back for me.”

             _‘I wonder who’d be stupid enough to attack him in his own kingdom. Those damn neko-youkai said they’d go back where they came from and not return. Maybe they changed their minds.’_

            “Sesshoumaru-sama was bringing Rin to Inuyasha-sama’s village, but then he brought Rin here instead.”

            “He probably smelled the den. Our scents are all over this place,” he explained.  _‘Would our scents be enough to cover the pup’s? His scent is still faint. Sesshoumaru wouldn’t lower himself to crawl into a den and we haven’t been here for five days. He might not have smelled him.’_

            “How long have you been waiting for us, Rin?” Kagome asked, casting him a glance.

            He shook his head slightly, silently telling her that he didn’t sense his brother nearby.

            “Rin has been here since this morning.”

             _‘Shit. He has to be close by. There is no way he would just leave her here and not make sure she was with us. But where the fuck is he?’_

            The wind shifted and he caught the scent almost too late. He whirled around and nearly drew Tessaiga as the figure of his half-brother came into view.

            “Inuyasha. It is fitting for a half-breed such as yourself to live in a hole in the ground,” his elder brother commented disdainfully. “This place reeks of you and the human female. Did the villagers finally come to their senses and cast you out?”

            “Keh! This is where we come to get away from them!” he countered.  _‘Still an arrogant asshole.’_

            Sesshoumaru’s eyes fell on Yukio and the cold gaze froze him to the core. He saw Kagome clutch the pup close, her own eyes full of worry and fear.

            “What is that?” the inu-youkai asked in a hard voice.

            He drew Tessaiga and brandished it, ignoring Rin’s scream.

            “You stay away from them.”

            “So… the half-breed has taken a mate. I am surprised a miko of her power lowered herself to breed with you.”

            “Hey! I’m not lowering myself,” Kagome snapped back indignantly.

_‘I love the girl’s guts, but she never did know when to back down. Then again, she’s always stood up to Sesshoumaru and he’s never killed her…’_

            He saw Sesshoumaru take a deep sniff and narrow his eyes.

            “The whelp is not yours.” It was a statement, not a question.

            “What’s it to you?” he demanded, still brandishing his sword in front of him, the blade turned with the cutting edge towards his brother.

            “Human. Bring the whelp to me,” Sesshoumaru ordered.

            Kagome hesitated, then moved to stand up.

            “Kagome, stay where you are,” he warned.

            “Fool. This Sesshoumaru would never dishonor himself by harming a helpless pup. Woman, bring me the pup.”

            He saw Kagome swallow and nod, walking towards them carrying Yukio.

            “Kagome…”

            “It’s okay Inuyasha. I don’t think he wants to hurt Yukio,” she countered softly, although her voice betrayed her uncertainty.

            “Wise girl. Let me see him.”

            Sheathing Tessaiga, he stood close to Kagome’s shoulder, glaring as she offered his brother the pup. Yukio looked frightened and he started to fret.

            :Be still,: he heard Kagome tell him in inu-youkai and he saw Sesshoumaru’s eyes widen a fraction.

            “It’s okay, Yukio. This is Sesshoumaru-sama. He’s Otou’s brother.” :Leader-male. Pack brother.:

            Yukio turned wide eyes to Sesshoumaru and did not look convinced.

            :Mother-female. Scared.:

            “You’re safe. Kaa-san and Otou won’t let anything happen to you,” she promised, placing the pup into Sesshoumaru’s outstretched arm.

            “Kaa!” Yukio protested, reaching for his mother. :Mother-female! Mother-female!: “KAA!”

            :SILENCE,: Sesshoumaru commanded and the pup went limp in submission, whimpering as he was gripped by the back of his shirt and lifted up for the inu-youkai’s critical inspection.

            His heart spasmed to see his pup so roughly treated, and all his nerve endings stood poised on the edge of action, ready to fight for his family if need be. He waited as Sesshoumaru sniffed the pup a few times and slowly looked him over, his face never once straying from its cold, emotionless expression. Yukio stayed limp, but his eyes were terrified, like those of a rabbit caught in a wolf’s jaws. He gritted his teeth and gripped Tessaiga’s hilt.

_‘That’s enough. Poor pup’s scared out of his wits.’_

            “Okay, you’ve seen him. Now give the pup back to Kagome,” he growled.

            “This Sesshoumaru knows the whelp’s sire,” Sesshoumaru said, dropping the pup unceremoniously back into Kagome’s waiting hands. Yukio sniffled and grabbed his mother, clinging to her desperately.

            He breathed a sigh of relief once Kagome had the pup again, and he was able to turn his attention to what his brother had said.

            “You did? Who was he?” he asked.

            “He was a general of our father’s. He fought beside Chichi-ue during the first neko-youkai war.”

_‘One of Oyaji’s generals…’_

            “He was gravely wounded in the battle and suffered the loss of an arm.”

            “Keh! What is it with you youkai that you can’t seem to keep your arms?”

            “You would be wise to hold your tongue, hanyou, or I will teach you what it is like to lose a limb.”

            “I’d like to see you try,” he countered.

            “Inuyasha…” Kagome warned.

_‘Heh. She won’t sit me in front of Sesshoumaru. She’d never humiliate me that way.’_

            “Stay out of this, Kagome,” he answered.

            As usual she ignored him and addressed Sesshoumaru.

            “I’m sorry to tell you, but your father’s general is dead. This pup’s mother brought him here when she herself was gravely wounded after her mate was killed. Before she died, she told us her mate had given her instructions to come here if anything ever happened to him,” she said calmly.

            “The life of one willing to lower himself to mate with a human is no concern of mine.”

_‘Still singing that tune when you’ve got your own human whelp that you defend viciously with one breath and deny caring about the next.’_

            “Rin told us you were bringing her here because there is trouble in the Western Lands,” she commented.

            “I must return immediately to handle the situation,” Sesshoumaru confirmed.

            “Those damn cats again? I’ll come with you and help you send them running back to where they came from,” he offered.

_‘He’ll say no, but I’ll have done my ‘duty’ and made the offer...’_

            “This Sesshoumaru does not need the help of a hanyou to deal with insurgents.”

            “So it’s not the neko-youkai,” Kagome commented.

            “No. It is a human army amassed by a fool to ‘free’ the humans living in the Western Lands from their demon master.”

             _‘So it’s humans. Normally Sesshoumaru wouldn’t bother with them, but if they’re stupid enough to go after him… Sesshoumaru won’t go looking for a fight, but he won’t run away from one either. Fools are all going to die.’_

            “I am sure this person is just misguided. I can’t imagine that you would be a bad leader. I hear nothing but good things about the Western Lands,” Kagome replied.

            “His reasons are of no importance. I will defeat him as a matter of course.”

            “Keh! If it’s just lowly humans, why bring your whelp here for us to protect?” he scoffed.

            “I have reason to believe that not all of my subjects are trustworthy and Rin is an obvious target. I bring her to you because I believe even you can handle the simple task of watching a human child.”

            He growled, bristling. “Why you…”

            “We’ll keep her safe, Sesshoumaru-sama. You don’t need to worry about her,” Kagome assured him.

            “I am not concerned for her welfare.”

_‘Yeah, right, sure you aren’t. That’s why Naraku was able to use her against you twice.’_

            Sesshoumaru turned to go. “I will return for Rin once I have dealt with these fools.”

            “Don’t forget to come back for Rin, Sesshoumaru-sama,” the little girl reminded.

            His brother didn’t answer as he walked away. He was just letting himself relax when Kagome, still holding Yukio, rushed after him.

            “Umm, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she called.

_‘What the fuck is she up to?’_

            The inu-youkai paused but did not turn around. 

            “I… Inu… Inuyasha’s told me about how you came for him after his mother died, and how you protected him until he was strong enough to fend for himself. I wanted to thank you for doing that. Without you to watch out for him, he surely would have died.”

_‘What the fuck? What the hell is she thanking **him**  for?!’_

            Sesshoumaru turned his head to look at her through one eye over his shoulder.

            “I did no more than my duty as the eldest son. It will never be said that this Sesshoumaru was so dishonorable as to deny his responsibilities.”

            The inu-youkai then left without another word. Inuyasha snorted and kicked dirt in the direction his elder brother had gone.

            “Did his duty as eldest son,” he spat disdainfully. “Oi, Kagome, what did you thank him for?”

            She was still staring in the direction Sesshoumaru had gone, a thoughtful look on her face. Yukio was watching too, his little hands tangled in his mother’s shirt, but his eyes looking off into the forest.

            “Well, he  ** _did_**  save you, didn’t he? If he hadn’t come to get you, your mother’s relatives would have let you starve, right?”

            “Keh! You think I was such a weakling that I wouldn’t have survived?” he snapped back.

            “No, but your chances greatly improved after he came for you. In any case, he did come for you and he did protect you, and that’s more than your mother’s family did. I felt it deserved acknowledgement, because I’m grateful to him.”

_‘Huh?’_

            “Grateful? Why?”

            She reached over and took his hand. “Because it meant you grew up and lived to meet me.”

            He softened and nuzzled her and the pup tenderly. “Well, there is that. I guess. But don’t think he did it out of any affection he had for me.”

            “I’m not so sure about that. For a moment when he was holding Yukio, I saw something I thought might be regret.”

            “Keh. You must have been imagining things.”

            She shrugged and didn’t look convinced, but said nothing more and turned to Rin. He took a moment to look back in the direction his brother had gone, his brow furrowed.

_‘Regret, huh? Nah. Woman must have been imagining things. The great Sesshoumaru regrets nothing.’_

 

********

 

_‘She thanked me. The human woman thanked me for doing nothing more than my duty. It’s all I have ever done. Protecting that half-breed whelp from getting himself killed. She’s learned inu-youkai as well. She spoke it to the pup to calm him.’_

            He paused, remembering how she had approached him. She had been afraid for her pup and uncertain, but brave. He had no doubt that both of them would have proven formidable opponents if he had meant ill-will. He knew all too well how ferociously a mother could defend her offspring. His own mother had died defending him from a dragon, and he remembered that terrible day very well. The look in her eyes was the same one his brother’s woman had had in hers when she thought he might be a danger to the pup.

_‘Interesting. She is strong. Strong enough for my brother, and she tempers his stupidity.’_

            The thought struck him as odd and he shoved it away.

_‘It is none of my concern.’_

            He moved to walk on, but stopped again, his brow furrowed.

             _‘So Imaichiromaru is dead. Died_ _defending a weak human female and his half-breed whelp. Fool. He should have killed the pup at birth.’_

      A pang struck his heart as he remembered the pup his brother now cared for. He had looked disturbingly similar to another inu-hanyou whelp that had been presented to him as a squalling infant.

       _“Sesshoumaru, my heir, this is your younger brother Inuyasha.”_

_“But Chichi-ue, he is a hanyou.”_

_“Silence. He is your brother. If anything ever happens to me, you must do your duty as my eldest son and protect him.”_

      Later he would see the whelp again, after it had been orphaned. Word had come to him of Izayoi’s death and he had traveled to see to the well-being of his brother, because it was his duty as eldest son and his father’s wish. He had found the half-breed whelp sealed in a root cellar; kept in the dark like a caged animal. Inuyasha had been filthy and starved, and he would never forget the sight of the wan face that peered up at him from the dank dirt; hope, recognition and fear in the golden eyes.

      “Aniki,” the whelp had said to him in a faint voice, eyes squinting in the sudden light.

      He had been struck with such rage at his brother’s condition that he’d slaughtered the priest who had set the seals and two of the guards. Then he had taken the starving half-breed with him, dragging the whelp to the nearest lake and throwing him in.

      “Bathe and get rid of your horrid stink,” he had ordered the shivering child.

      Inuyasha had obeyed without protest and followed him without a word afterwards. Later, knowing the whelp was too weak to hunt on his own he had tossed him a dead rabbit.

       _“Aniki, it’s raw.”_

_“That is no concern of mine. If you want your food cooked like a human’s, build a fire and cook it yourself.”_

_“I don’t know how.”_

_“It is not my responsibility to teach you.”_

            Seeing the inu-hanyou pup in the human woman’s arms had brought back a lot of his feelings of shame and regret at his treatment of his own brother. There had been a time when the hanyou had worshipped him, looking up to him with trusting and adoring eyes, and had followed him everywhere. It had irritated him to be shadowed by the half-breed whelp, and he had made certain that it didn’t take long for him to figure out that his brother held nothing for him but distain.

       _“Aniki, why do you hate me?”_

_“Because you are a hanyou, a filthy half-breed who is beneath me.”_

_“Chichi-ue and Haha-ue loved me.”_

_“Chichi-ue and his human wench are dead. I am all you have now until you can fend for yourself. Get used to it.”_

_“If you hate me, why did you come for me and take me with you?”_

_“Because it is my duty as Chichi-ue’s eldest son and heir. Chichi-ue should have drowned you at birth. Instead he risked his life to save you and that human bitch from death. Neither of you deserved to live! But you are my brother and I am honor bound to protect you. Expect nothing else from me.”_

            He had been cruel. Unnecessarily so, and he realized that now. At the time, he had been filled with resentment and hate, and his own grief at the loss of his father. He had taken it out on the child. He remembered well the beatings and scruffings he had given his brother, and on rare occasions the ultimate humiliation of all: a human spanking administered to the whelp’s bare backside. In the beginning, Inuyasha would beg and cry, but then one day he stopped crying and never cried again.

            On that day he knew he had broken something inside of the child, something that could never be repaired or forgiven. Hanyou, filthy half-breed whelp, Inuyasha might have been, but he was still their father’s son, and he had made an enemy of a potentially powerful ally. The Leader of the Dogs’ blood ran in Inuyasha’s veins and it had bred true. For a hanyou, Inuyasha would be strong. He saw that in the whelp’s unbreakable determination to live, and he had often wondered when his abuse of the child would come back to haunt him.

            It had been disgraceful of him to treat the whelp so harshly and unbefitting of a taiyoukai such as himself, but by the time he had realized the error of his ways, it was too late and the damage had been done. Inuyasha had well and truly hated him by then, and their decades-long battle of wills had begun.

_‘It was better that way. He left as soon as he was able to fend for himself. It was good that I no longer had to look at our father’s half-breed disgrace.’_

            The disgrace their father had bequeathed the famed Tessaiga.

            For years he had gnashed his teeth and railed at the injustice of his father’s choice to give his lowly hanyou sibling the famous sword, that and the fact that his father had not entrusted him with the location of his grave. He had thought to force his father’s hand and claim the sword for himself, only to be rejected by the sword and struck down by his father’s own fang. The humiliation of his loss to his half-breed brother had made him seethe and roil with indignant rage, and he had vowed to wield Tessaiga even if he had to kill Inuyasha to do it.

            It wasn’t until Naraku’s detachment broke the sword, that he would learn Tessaiga’s true purpose. Now he would not dream of taking the sealing sword from Inuyasha, if only to prevent other taiyoukai from learning the secret shame of the hanyou’s wild youkai blood.

             _‘The dishonor he has brought to our family. Chichi-ue was right to give Tessaiga to that half-breed.’_

            In its sheath Tenseiga pulsed once, reminding him of its presence, and he touched the familiar hilt with his hand.

             _‘Tenseiga, you are talking to me much more. This Sesshoumaru is only beginning to understand the things Chichi-ue was trying tell me.’_

            He looked at both of his swords. Toukijin, forged from the teeth of the oni that broke Tessaiga, able to kill with its kenatsu alone, and Tenseiga, forged from Chichi-ue’s fang, blade of healing that was able to revive those gone to the next world.

             _‘Life and death in my hand. Heavy burdens both and I can only hope to be worthy of Chichi-ue’s favor.’_

            Tenseiga pulsed again, the power surging into his hand.

             _‘You are telling me to go back, are you not. Go back to the Western Lands to defend and protect those who live there. This is the duty of the Lord of the Western Lands. Whether the threat is youkai or human, both must be dealt with the same. Even Chichi-ue, with his fondness for humans, would agree.’_

            He moved again, gathering his thoughts together.

             _‘I must go return order and rout this human rabble who dares to oppose me. When they squabble and battle amongst themselves, it is no concern of mine, but when they bring the stench of death and blood to my ancestral home, and bribe my servants to betray me and conspire to take Rin, I have no choice but to answer in kind.’_

            He looked to the sky, frowning. ‘ _I do not want to fight humans. They are weak and fragile things not worthy of my attention, but their insult cannot go ignored.’_

            Breathing deeply, he called his power and surrounded himself with a ball of light.

_‘Besides, Rin cannot come home until I have made it safe for her to do so.’_

            It was his last thought before he took to the air and streaked off towards the Western horizon.

 

********

 

            “Kohaku!” Rin exclaimed and threw herself at the shocked boy.

            “Rin,” Kohaku said in his soft voice, placing his hands on the girl’s shoulders.

            “Rin is so glad to see you!” she said and hugged the boy tight.

            Something akin to happiness came into Kohaku’s eyes and he saw Kagome smile.

             _‘Keh! Kid might be just what that boy needs right now.’_

            “Heh, I think they’ll be good for each other,” he commented beside her.

            She turned to him and smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing. Kohaku is so quiet and alone. I know he is tormented by his memories and blames himself for the death of so many. None of us have any real time for him. You and I are busy looking for shards and caring for Yukio, and Sango and Miroku are busy taking care of their daughter. Maybe someone who can give all of her time to him is exactly what Kohaku needs right now.”

            He nodded. “She’ll have someone to distract her from thinking about my brother, and he’ll have someone to keep him from sitting around and brooding all damn day.”

            “A match made in heaven. Besides, it’s obvious that Rin has forgiven Kohaku for trying to kill her. She  ** _did_**  beg Sesshoumaru to save his life when Naraku ripped out his Shikon shard.”

            “And my cold-hearted brother did it. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

            She shook her head. “No. Sesshoumaru isn’t as cold and unfeeling as he’d like us to think he is. He tries hard to hide it, but he cares a lot more than I think even  ** _he_** is comfortable with. The very fact that he can use Tenseiga is proof enough that his heart is good.”

            “Keh! I still don’t know how he managed that.”

            “Your father knew his sons very well. He knew Sesshoumaru had a good heart, but to wield Tenseiga he had to learn how to use it. And he knew you would be compassionate enough to handle Tessaiga wisely, because you have the bigger heart and have love for humans,” she replied.

            “I don’t love humans!” he protested. ‘ _Well… maybe one or two…’_

            She smiled coyly and kissed him. “Yes, you do.”

            He growled at her but she just snickered and handed him his son.

            “Watch Yukio for a while? I’m going to see if Sango needs any help.”

            She was gone before he could voice his disapproval.  _‘Damn wench, running off again. You’d think she’d never seen a pup before. She’s got one right here, and he’s cuter.’_

            “Kaa,” Yukio whined mournfully, reaching out one hand in the direction Kagome had gone. :Mother-female.:

            “Heh, you’re with Oyaji now, pup.”

            Yukio turned big watery eyes his way. :Mother-female gone.:

            “No. She’s right here in the village. Nose her out,” he said, tapping his nose then Yukio’s. :Mother-female with pack. Scent still here.:

            He saw the pup sniff the air. :Mother-female scent.:

            He nodded. :Mother-female busy with pack-female. Pup stay with leader-male.:

            :Mother-female with pack-sister?:

            “Yeah. She’s with the new pup.”

            :Where pack-brother?: “Ip-po?”

            He chuckled. “Shippou is with the old woman. Let’s go see what Kaede-babaa is up to.”

            “’K,” Yukio answered, chewing on his fist.

            Turning, he headed for the miko’s hut, Yukio balanced on one arm and looking around at everything. The pup was beginning to recognize home and specific places. He knew the den, Kaede’s hut, and Sango and Miroku’s hut, and he knew the village was a large above ground den that housed the whole pack.

            They found the old miko tending her garden.

            “Oi, Kaede-babaa,” he greeted, hopping up onto her fence.

            “Inuyasha,” Kaede replied, pulling out some weeds and placing them in a basket.

            “Babaa,” Yukio burbled, repeating his father.

            “Agh! No! If Kagome hears you say that, she’ll sit me into oblivion!” he gasped.

            Kaede just chuckled. Yukio looked at the woman and smiled. He was learning that laughter meant he had done something pleasing.

            “No! Don’t laugh!”

            “Babaa,” the pup burbled again, giggling.

            “Urk!”

            “He becomes more like his father every day, Inuyasha,” Kaede teased, still chuckling.

            “Oi! Watch it! And stop laughing, you’re only encouraging him!”

            “Babaa! Babaa! Babaa!”

            “Argh! Shut up!” he yelled, scruffing the pup.

            Yukio’s eyes went wide with surprise and hurt, but he submitted immediately like he always did and groveled.

            :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry!:

_‘Awww, shit…’_

            He released the pup’s neck and cuddled him.

            “I’m sorry too, pup.” :Sorry.:

            :Sorry. Sorry. Pup good. Sorry!:

            Yukio’s little whimpers made him feel awful for losing his temper, and he nuzzled the pup, patting his back.

            :Forgiven.: “Kaa-san should come and sit Oyaji. Oyaji deserves it.”

            He looked up from comforting his son to see the old woman staring at him with eyes that bore into his soul.

            “What are you looking at?” he snorted.

            Kaede smiled softly. “You make a good father, Inuyasha.”

            “Feh!”

            The old miko just shook her head and returned to her weeding.

            “Where’s Shippou?”

            “I sent him off to play with some of the village children. Where is Kagome?”

            He sighed and hopped off the fence, coming to sit cross-legged by the old woman with Yukio in his lap. The pup was still clingy and uncertain.

            “She’s helping Sango,” he said with a forlorn sigh.

            Kaede nodded. “The young taijiya is finding motherhood a challenge. She has not the inherent patience Kagome possesses and the demands of an infant are taxing to her.”

            He scoffed. “Especially human pups. They’re loud and cry all night. Inu-youkai pups are much better behaved.”

            Kaede just smiled knowingly. “What do you expect from a ‘beet-faced piglet?’”

            “I didn’t mean it as an insult,” he said defensively.

            “I know.”

            They fell quiet for a while. Kaede weeded and he sat watching her. He gave Yukio some of the flowers Kaede had taken out of the garden, and the pup busied himself with ripping them up and seeing if they were edible. Inuyasha knew from experience that they were, but horribly bitter.

            “Pleh,” Yukio coughed, spitting the flowers out and scraping his tongue with his teeth. “Pleh. Pleh. Pleh.”

            “No good, huh pup?”

            “Pleh.”

            He patted the pup’s back as he spit out the rest of it.

            “That’ll teach you. You won’t eat that again.”

            “He does learn quickly,” Kaede commented.

            Inuyasha beamed with pride. “He’s a smart one.”

            Kaede nodded. “Smarter than his father.”

            “Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “Nothing,” the miko replied innocently, handing Yukio a sweet root for him to chew on. The pup munched on it happily.

            He growled softly in irritation but Kaede ignored him, and they fell silent again.

            “Kaede…” he began, feeling safe enough that Kagome was out of hearing distance to bring up the subject. “No one has heard or seen Kikyou in a very long time. Do you think something has happened to her?”

            The old woman paused a moment, then resumed her weeding. “The one who would know that is Kagome.”

            “Kagome? Why? How?”

            “If Kikyou-onee-sama had left this world, the part of her soul that belongs to Kagome would return to her. Kagome could not help but feel it if it happened. If Kagome has not felt my sister’s passing, then it is safe to assume that Kikyou-onee-sama remains walking on this plane,” she explained.

            He blinked, thinking. “Would Kagome tell me such a thing?”

            Kaede gave him a tolerant look that made him feel sheepish for even asking such an obviously stupid question.

             _‘Of course she would tell you, you idiot. She wouldn’t keep something like that from you.’_

            “It is doubtful that Kagome would keep something like that from you, Inuyasha. Indeed, I don’t think she could,” the old woman said, as if she could read and give voice to his thoughts.

            “But if Kikyou is still alive, why hasn’t she come to see me? She usually appears once every few weeks, but it has been many months since her last visit.”

            “Do you miss her, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked leadingly.

            “No,” he answered immediately. “But I am… concerned.”

_‘And if Kikyou is not around then nothing can be resolved…’_

            “It is as I said before. Kikyou-onee-sama is not here.”

            “Do you think she has gone on without me?”

            He was surprised by how hurt he was by the idea that Kikyou might have left him without ever saying anything.

             _‘You would think I would at least deserve her coming to tell me **something**  instead of just disappearing and making me worry.’_

            “I cannot begin to know what my sister’s intentions are, and that is the source of my primary worry.”

            “Bah! I told you before, Kikyou is different now. Kagome healed her.”

            “I believe you. Kagome is a remarkable child.”

             _‘She’s not a child anymore, but yes, she is more remarkable than you will ever know, babaa.’_

            “Still, it would be better if we heard from her so we would know her whereabouts and actions, ne?” she added.

            “Yes, and I would like to speak with her as well.”

            Kaede gave him a knowing look. “Have you decided what you are going to do?”

            He nodded. “Ultimately the decision is Kikyou’s, but I have decided to choose Kagome if I can.”

            “And if you cannot? If my sister will not release her claim on you, what then?”

            “I will beg her to let me live until Kagome comes to the end of her mortal life. Kikyou is immortal and I will outlive Kagome by many centuries. I will ask her to wait so that I may fulfill my promise to Kagome and our pup,” he replied.

_‘It is the best I can do. And if Kikyou says no… I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t want to go with her, and it would mean my having to abandon Kagome and the pup. I… I don’t think I can do that. Would my Kikyou, the one I loved, even ask such a thing of me?’_

            Kaede nodded and wisely dropped the subject.

            “How long will Rin be staying with us?” she asked.

            “Keh! Hell if I know. Until my lord brother returns for her. Apparently, there’s a human army after the Western Lands.”

            “I have heard rumors that tell of this.”

             _‘Hmmm, and I haven’t. I wonder if this army actually poses a threat to Sesshoumaru and our father’s kingdom.’_

            He didn’t like the way the thought made him feel.

             _‘Maybe I should have gone with him… No, I can’t leave Kagome and the pup. Besides if he needs help, I know he’ll ask for it. He sent Jaken to fetch me when the cats came back fifty years ago. It was how he found out that I had been sealed.’_

            “They’re fools. Sesshoumaru cares nothing for humans. They’re all going to die.”

            “If that is so, why did he bring the child here for you to protect?” the old woman asked wisely.

            “How the Hell should I know? He says he doesn’t care about the girl, yet he swore vengeance when Naraku tried to use her against him, and I know he saved her life with Tenseiga. She said so when she begged my brother for Kohaku’s life. Why he would do that is beyond me. Sesshoumaru has always hated humans.”

            Kaede chuckled. “Perhaps your brother is discovering that he is more like his father than he would care to admit.”

            “Feh. I’ll let you be the one to tell him that, babaa. That way you’ll get slapped with his youki whip and not me.”

            “Hmmmm.”

            Just then both he and Yukio caught Kagome’s scent coming towards them and turned to face the direction she was coming from.

            “Kaa,” Yukio burbled.

            :Yes, mother-female comes.:

            She came into view and Yukio squealed a greeting. Inuyasha let him go when he struggled to get out of his lap, and he toddled over to grab his mother’s leg.

            “Kaa!”

            “How’s my little big dog?” she said sweetly, picking him up, cuddling him, and giving him an inu-youkai greeting as well.

            “Kaa!” :Mother-female.:

            “How is the taijiya?” Kaede asked.

            “Exhausted and impatient. Give her a battle with a demon scorpion and she’s in her element. Give her an infant who needs her diaper changed and she’s helpless,” she answered, coming to stand next to where he was sitting.

            “Surely Sango is not that bad,” the old woman chided.

            Kagome shook her head. “No, but motherhood isn’t what she thought it would be. I think she thought her baby would be like Yukio and she’s not.”

            “It will get easier for her once the infant is sleeping through the night.”

            Kagome nodded. “I told her that. And Miroku does help her a lot. As much as he can, I think. He can’t feed her, but he’ll rock her and change her and take her so Sango gets a break.”

            “He is a good husband.”

            “Yes, he is. He’s a much better husband than I thought he would be. He’s stopped being a lecher almost completely. He told me he intends to name the babyMiyoko.”

            “Hmmm. A good name.”

            “Yes it is,” she agreed. “Anyway, I’m hot. I’m going to go take a swim and then go to the den.”

            “It will be much cooler underground,” Kaede commented.

             _‘Heh, depends on what we’re doing, babaa…’_ he thought lasciviously.

            “You coming, Inuyasha?”

            He stood, pretending to be irritated. “Feh, you and your water. Are you sure you’re not a water demon in Kagome’s body?”

            She gave him a sly look. “I promise I’ll give you the chance to find out,” she teased.

            “Heh. Later, babaa.”

            “Babaa,” Yukio repeated and he cringed.  _‘Shit…’_

            “Babaa?” Kagome scolded, her eyes flashing angrily. “What are you teaching our son?”

            “It’s not my fault! He just heard me say it and started calling her that!” he stammered, sweating.

            “Inuyasha…”

            “Sit,” he sighed and closed his eyes.  _‘Here it comes…’_

            “OSUWARI!”

            His face hit the dirt.

            “Gah! Kagome-e-e-e,” he growled.

            Yukio giggled. “It,” he burbled.

            “Feh, doesn’t work when you say it, pup,” he said, picking himself up.

            “No, but this does. Osuwari!”

            “Gah!” he gasped as he ate dust again. “What’d you do that for?!”

            She stood over him, her face hard. “You are going to stop teaching our son bad manners, right?”

            “I didn’t do it on purpose!”

            “Osuwari!”

            “Agh! Stop that!” he yelled as he slammed into the ground a third time. “Alright! Alright! I’ll stop being a rude, insensitive hanyou around the pup!”

            “Thank you.”

            He picked himself up, watching her warily just in case she decided that he hadn’t been punished enough, but it looked like she was finished.

            “Can’t subdue you too much. I might damage something I’ll want to use later,” she teased softly so only he would hear.

            He blushed then flooded with heat in other, lower places.

            “Heh, what makes you think I’ll oblige you?” he groused, trying to keep a straight face.

            She looked surprised, then began to laugh softly and linked her arm with his, pulling him with her as she walked away. “C’mon leader-male. I want that swim.”

            “I still say you’re a water demon that took over Kagome’s body.”

            “Hmmm, I might give you the chance to find out.”

            “ ** _Might_**? Only  ** _might_**?”

            “Well, you did piss me off.”

            “I told you it wasn’t my fault! He heard me say ‘babaa’ and just repeated it.”

            “Babaa,” Yukio said dutifully.

            “Osuwari!”

            He slammed to the ground.

            “Gah!”

            As he picked himself up a third time and ran after her, he heard Kaede cluck and chuckle softly.

            “That boy never learns.”


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

 

            Inuyasha sat next to Miroku as they watched their women with their little ones. Sango, Kirara, Shippou and Kagome were sitting on one of Kagome’s ‘picnic blankets’ and were enjoying the early autumn sunshine. Soon Kagome’s ‘school break’ would be over and she would once again have to return to her world every two weeks. It would be her last year before ‘college’ as she called it, and from what he understood of her time that meant her official schooling was almost over. She didn’t have to go to ‘college’ but her mother wanted her to, and she’d often told him going to ‘college’ would help her ‘get a better job’ when she was grown-up.

            He didn’t really want her to go to ‘college.’ First of all, it meant more ‘school’ which in turn meant more ‘tests’ and more time away from him, although he pretty much went with her every time she traveled through the well now. Second of all, he really didn’t see the point in her continuing. She had her life with him and the pup in his time. He didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t stay with him and learn miko healing from Kaede if she wanted to study to become a ‘nurse’ or a doctor. He had to admit, however, that Kagome would make a very good doctor. Not only was she excellent at patching up their many wounds with her modern medicine, she was also very good at diagnosing problems.

            A few weeks ago, she’d realized Sango’s troubles with her pup weren’t normal and that the taijiya was suffering from something called ‘post-partum depression.’ Apparently this sometimes happened to women after whelping a pup when something inside didn’t return to normal. This made women sad and unhappy and sometimes even made them kill their pups. All this time they’d been assuming that Sango was just suffering from new-mother jitters, but when she didn’t stop crying all the time and started calling herself a bad mother, they’d started to get really worried. Miroku had even taken the pup away from her a few times because he feared for the pup’s safety. The houshi had hated doing it, and was beside himself with grief and concern for both his wife and his daughter, but when he found bruises on the pup’s arms he’d grabbed the pup and run.

            Thank Kami Kagome had figured out what was going on, and brought back books that had recipes for herbal remedies and even some medicine from her time. It took a couple of weeks, but slowly Sango began to return to normal, and everyone was relieved. Now the last three months seemed like nothing but a bad dream that Sango had finally awakened from, and the taijiya had often referred to her ‘depression’ as just that: a horrible dream from which she could not wake. The young mother couldn’t thank Kagome enough for realizing something was wrong and helping her. After reading Kagome’s books, she’d been horrified to know that she could have killed her pup if her condition had gone untreated. Inuyasha knew Miroku was eternally grateful as well because Kagome had saved both his wife and pup, although Kagome waved off her amazing accomplishments as she always did, saying it was nothing and refusing to take any credit for her part in Sango’s recovery.

            The houshi’s girl-pup, Miyoko, was three months old now and looking slightly cuter than she did when she was born. Yukio, of course, now ten months old was a roly-poly pup who toddled after his mother wherever she went. Both mothers had their pups in their laps as they talked, Kagome waving her hands as she animatedly told some tale from her time. Sango and Shippou were listening avidly, nodding and smiling. Miyoko was sleeping, and Yukio was looking bored.

             _‘Hmmm a bored pup will find his own trouble,_ ’ he thought.

            “It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it,” Miroku commented with a contented sigh.

            He grunted in agreement, caught on Kagome’s laughter.

            “I cannot thank Kagome-sama enough for all she’s done. When the time comes for you to build her that house, you can count on me to help as much as I can.”

            He nodded. “I don’t know when that will be. With Kikyou gone from here, there is no way to resolve things between us, and Kagome won’t let me build it until we know what Kikyou’s decision is.”

            “But you have told me you have chosen Kagome.”

            “If I can, I will choose her, but Kikyou has to release me first.”

            “You may be able to demand it of her since it seems obvious that she has abandoned you.”

             _‘Abandoned me.’_  The thought was a slap to his face.  _‘Lowly hanyou doesn’t even deserve a goodbye…’_

            “Maybe,” he replied non-committally. 

            Yukio, hanyou puppy ears catching the sound of his father’s voice, turned his head to see him and smiled.

_‘Heh, finally realized we were here, eh pup? Well, we are sitting downwind…’_

            “Otou!” the pup enthused, pushing himself out of Kagome’s lap and making his way over.

            Kagome paused in her story to look where he was going and saw the two of them sitting in the shade of the trees. She cast him a brilliant smile and waved. Sango waved too, then they went back to their conversation. Yukio toddled the rest of the way across the clearing and plopped into his lap, giggling.

            “Otou!”

            He smiled at his son and rubbed his ears. “Hey, pup.”

            He fished out a sweet root from his haori and gave it to Yukio for him to chew on. The pup happily accepted the treat and started gnawing away as he settled into his father’s lap, his little back against his abdomen. He put his arms around the pup the way his own mother used to do when he was just a little whelp and pulled him close.

            “I’m glad things are back to normal with Sango. Woman had us all worried,” he commented.

            “Almost,” Miroku replied, an unhappy note to his voice.

            He turned to look at the houshi and saw him frowning. “Is something still wrong? Does Kagome need to bring more medicine back from her time?”

            Miroku shook his head. “It’s nothing like that…” He paused for a long time, his face unhappy and indecisive.

             _‘Something’s really bothering him… Should I ask about it? Well, none of my business if he doesn’t want to tell me.’_

            “Inuyasha…”

            “What?”

            “With the responsibilities of Yukio… has Kagome ever…”

            “Has she ever what?”

            Miroku struggled with the words, his hands clenching.

            “Has she ever… refused you?”

            “Refused me?”  _‘Refused me what? Oh…’_  He blushed and looked at his son. “No.”

            Miroku sighed. “I see.”

_‘Is he saying Sango isn’t… What the fuck is he asking **me**  for?  **He’s**  the lecher!’_

            “Not all marital bliss, eh bouzu?” he teased.  _‘Heh, serves him right for all the women he groped!’_

            There was a pause, then Miroku answered, choosing his words carefully, “Sango’s return to her wifely duties has been… slow.”

_‘So she is leaving him high and dry.’_

            “Keh.”

            “I am trying to be patient, but… my palms are starting to itch.”

_‘Oh how well I know that feeling!’_

            “Been two days, eh letch?”

            “More like two months,” Miroku admitted sadly.

            He gaped. “Two  ** _months?!_** ” ‘ _Two **months**. I’d have exploded by now. He must really be desperate if he’s asking  **me**  about it.’_ His own groin twinged in sympathy.

            The houshi nodded, looking forlorn. “At first I thought it was the stress of Miyoko, then later when Kagome-sama said Sango was suffering from a medical condition that needed treatment, I thought it was that. But while she is getting better in other ways… that has still not returned.”

            “Have you… ummmm… asked her about it?” ‘ _And I’m getting involved in this why? It’s not like the monk’s sex life is any concern of mine. Still, if his hands start to wander… His pup may grow up without a father. The taijiya will probably kill him if she finds out.’_

            “Yes. She says it hurts her.”

            “Hurts her?”

            Miroku swallowed uncomfortably and shifted a bit. “Yes. Her body… it… it doesn’t get ready.”

_‘Doesn’t get ready… Oh, is he saying…?’_

            “Ummm, Kagome has some stuff that might help. Makes things slippery,” he offered.

            Miroku blinked at him in surprise. “You and Kagome-sama have had this problem?”

            “Not really. Usually I just lick her. A few good swipes to her sweet spot and she’s wetter than a fish,” he answered distractedly as Yukio tugged on his sleeve.

            “Otou,” the pup gurgled, mouth red from the sweet root.

            “Whaddya want, pup?” he asked fondly.

            “Lick her? Sweet spot?” Miroku repeated, confused.

            “Yeah, the little bump…” He got flustered and blushed, realizing what he was saying. “Are you telling me you don’t lick your woman?”

            Now it was Miroku’s turn to blush. “I…”

             _‘So he doesn’t, huh. Maybe all those years of pretending to be a womanizer were just an act.’_  A dark thought clouded his mind.  _‘Or maybe he just took his pleasure where he found it and didn’t return the favor.’_  The idea did not sit well with him.

            “Look. There’s a little bump there. Find it yourself. Like I said, a few good swipes and your problem should be solved,” he said irritably.

            The houshi’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Thank… thank you.”

            He growled. “Don’t thank me. Your woman’s pleasure should come first because she gives you pleasure. If you’re not making it good for her, it’s no wonder she’s saying no.”

            Miroku had the decency to look ashamed. “You are right, of course.”

            “Damn right I am,” he snorted.

            “Otou?” Yukio asked worriedly. :Pup bad?:

            He hurried to reassure his son that his ire was not directed at him. :Pup good. Pack-male displeases leader-male.:

            Yukio turned wide, golden eyes towards Miroku, then slowly ducked his head behind his father’s haori sleeve. He had to struggle to suppress the smile that threatened to come out.

            “My previous experience with women was limited…” the houshi began.

            “And I had none,” he interrupted. “That’s no excuse. You find out what makes her feel good and you do it. It’s not hard, it just takes longer.”  _‘And the letch gets sex advice from the virgin hanyou who didn’t even know women **could**  climax… What is wrong with this conversation? Am I really so different from other men that I do my best to please my lover?’ _That thought also did not sit well with him.

            “Of… of course,” Miroku agreed nervously.

            The houshi’s acquiescence did nothing to improve his mood. In the circle of his sleeves, two golden eyes peered up at him, but otherwise the pup was still keeping his head down.

            “Women aren’t vessels for breeding more sons,” he said, repeating something Kagome had once told him about the attitudes of the men in this era.

            “Of course they aren’t!” the houshi gasped immediately.

             _‘Good. At least you’ve gotten that part.’_

            His temper was still piqued, however, and he was tired of discussing a subject he felt he shouldn’t have to be talking about in the first place. Yukio was getting ready to fuss, and there were better things he could be doing: like sitting with Kagome and basking in her attentions. To that affect he did something he rarely did; he pulled a Sesshoumaru.

_‘Keh. It can never be said that bastard didn’t teach me how to deliver a good put down.’_

            “This conversation is over,” he said coolly, very much like his brother would do, and stood up, putting Yukio on his shoulders. “I’ve told you something you can do. The rest is up to you. If you want more, ask Kagome for her books. She has two of them that have been very good for us.”

            He didn’t wait for Miroku’s reply before he walked over to where Kagome was still sitting with Shippou, Sango and her pup.

            Later that evening all of them gathered outside of Kaede’s hut for dinner. Earlier in the day he’d dug out a fire pit and placed several fish wrapped in ‘foil’ from Kagome’s time in a bed of hot coals, then covered them up with rocks. The fish stayed baking in the coals for most of the afternoon, with more coals being added when needed, and when the meal was ready, the fish was retrieved from the coals. They were flavorful and tender, cooked in their own juices and the spices Kagome had wrapped with them. Served with rice, vegetables and the ever present ramen noodles, it was a feast for eyes, noses and tastebuds.

            “Ah-men,” Yukio enthused, seeing the noodles.

            “Yeah, you got that right, pup. Ninja food. Yummy.”

            Of course, the pup couldn’t use chopsticks yet so he had to eat with his little hands. Kagome would drain the noodles and give them to the pup as dry as she could make them to reduce the mess. Many times she’d had to strip him almost naked after a meal and wash his clothes until she got wise and started using a bib on him.

            During the meal, Miroku was subdued, but not hostile, and he was friendly but reserved. In the law of inu-youkai, it was up to the monk as the subordinate in the pack to make up with him by offering the proper apologies and not the other way around. Sango and Kagome seemed to know that something had transpired between them, but were wisely keeping their mouths shut for the time being, although he was certain Kagome would ask him about it later.

            They were joined for dinner by Rin and Kohaku. The two were practically inseparable these days, and some of the light was returning to the boy’s eyes. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Rin, whose eyes grew sadder and sadder as the weeks went by and still Sesshoumaru did not return for her. Oh, she tried to hide her worry and disappointment, and she was usually her bubbly self, but it was obvious that she was missing the taiyoukai very much.

             _‘Keh. The girl has no sense at all,_ ’ he thought dourly.  _‘And my brother’s an asshole. It’s been two months and he hasn’t even sent word of how things are going.’_

            “Inuyasha-sama?” the little girl asked during a pause in the meal.

            “Yeah?”

            “Do you think Sesshoumaru-sama has forgotten about Rin?”

            He almost choked on his tea.  _‘How the hell should I know? I never understood why he kept a human whelp with him in the first place!’_

            He looked to Kagome for rescue, and she saved him without hesitation.

            “I’m sure Sesshoumaru-sama has good reasons for not coming back for you, Rin-chan,” she said.

            “But the New Moon has come and gone twice and soon it will come again. Rin is worried that something has happened to Sesshoumaru-sama.”

            “Bah! You don’t have to be worried about that. No weak human army could hurt my brother,” he scoffed.  _‘However, it has been an awfully long time. He should have defeated that army by now and come for her.’_  He pushed away the little feeling of foreboding and concern.  _‘Bah! I’m really going soft if I’m starting to worry about that bastard.’_

            The girl looked as if she was going to cry and Kagome glared at him.

            “What? What did I do?” he complained defensively.

            “But if Sesshoumaru-sama is alright, then why has he not come back for Rin?”

            “Why don’t we write Sesshoumaru-sama a letter asking him if he knows when you can go home. I’ll help you write it and Inuyasha will find a youkai courier who can deliver it for us,” Kagome suggested.

            “I will?” Kagome gave him a ‘death glare’ and his heart started pounding in his chest. “Oh yes. Yes, I will,” he stammered.  _‘Shit, she’s still scary…’_

            “You will? Oh thank you, Inuyasha-sama, Kagome-sama! Rin will be so happy to hear from Sesshoumaru-sama!”

            Pacified for the time-being, Rin forgot all about her sadness and the rest of the meal progressed without further upset. Afterwards, however, he asked Kagome about her plans to write a letter as they walked to the den.

            “Are you really planning to do that?”

            “Of course. We’ll write it and she’ll be happy. Then you’ll find a ‘courier’ and send it off. It doesn’t really have to go to the Western Lands, she just has to think it did,” she answered.

            “Oh good, for a moment there I was worried. Bothering my brother about that girl before he’s ready to come get her would probably make him leave her here just to spite us.”

            “Exactly,” she agreed, stooping down to enter the den. He’d widened the entrance a little to accommodate going in with the pup on his back, but it still wasn’t high enough to stand. “Then, if he still hasn’t come for her, you can write a letter of response and have it sent here.”

            “Me?”

            “You know how Sesshoumaru talks, who better? Besides, your writing is nicer than mine is and you know all the formal kanji used in this era. I don’t.”

            He smiled to himself. Kagome had often commented on his writing, saying how amazing it was that someone as rough and seemingly unschooled as him could write such beautiful, flowing kanji.

            “Keh! Alright, if you put it that way, I’ll do it.”

            She gave him a little kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. It is worrisome though, isn’t it? He should have come for her by now.”

             _‘My thoughts exactly. Maybe… maybe I should go and make sure everything’s alright.’_

            “Bah! You worry too much. Sesshoumaru won’t be done in by a bunch of humans. He’s probably enjoying the peace and quiet from that girl’s endless chatter.”

            “You sound so certain.”

            “Keh. I am.” ‘ _At least I think I am. Still… what is this feeling of **wrong**?’_

            “Alright then, I trust you.”

            They settled into the den, lighting some candles and stowing their belongings, and he took off his clothes as he usually did, folding them and putting them in their cubby. He had no modesty in front of his family, and the den was more than warm enough for him. Kagome was the one who was cold at night, but that just made her snuggle closer to him. Since Rin was staying with Kaede and Sango and Miroku’s hut was full, they’d been practically living in the den full time. In fact, they hadn’t missed a single night there since Sango started coming out of her ‘depression.’

            Kagome put Yukio down in his place. It wasn’t a bassinet anymore, but its own little separate sleeping spot with straw and blankets. Having it didn’t keep him from crawling in with them at night, but he knew enough to stay there until he was invited to join them.

            “So… do you want to tell me what is going on between you and Miroku?” she asked.

            “Hmm? What do you mean?” he tried, giving her his ‘soulful puppy-dog’ eyes.

            “Don’t try to distract me with that look. It’s a dead give-away,” she said, smiling.

            He growled softly.

            “Why don’t you get more comfortable?” he suggested.

            “No. I start taking off my clothes and you start getting all dominant dog on me, and I’ll never find out why the two of you have barely said two words to each other since this afternoon.”

            “We weren’t that bad,” he complained. 

            “Inuyasha…” she warned.

            He sighed. “It was man-talk,” he admitted, giving in. While he might be the ‘dominant dog,’ she was the true alpha and he couldn’t refuse her.

            “Man-talk?”

            He nodded. “Yeah. He was asking about… about our relationship.” He put a little emphasis on the word relationship to make sure she knew he wasn’t talking about their current living arrangements.

            “He was?”

            “Apparently he and Sango are… having difficulties. Has she talked to you about this? It sounds like something two women would talk about more than two men.”

            She shook her head. “Sango’s always been really shy about intimacy. I remember when I tried to ask her about what it was like to be married before I got together with you, she always got really nervous and reluctant to answer me.”

             _‘Heh, if the monk wasn’t doing his duty and pleasing her, she probably didn’t want to tell Kagome that she was unhappy.’_

            “Come to think of it, she might have tried a couple of times but stopped herself. Is it something really bad?”

             _‘For him it is…’_  “She’s… been refusing him, and he told me his hands are starting to itch.”

            She blanched. “He wouldn’t be stupid enough to cheat on her would he?”

            “I don’t know. She’s said no for two months…”

            “Two  ** _months!_**  My god, you go two days and you start getting cranky!”

_‘Heh, that’s just what I thought.’_

            “Did he say why? Is it the baby?”

            “That’s part of it, but…”

            He blushingly relayed what Miroku had told him, what he had inferred from the houshi’s remarks, and his little snit that afternoon. Kagome listened thoughtfully, nodding every now and then, and stayed quiet until he was finished.

            “So I can expect Miroku to ask about my books.”

            “I hope so. Their little pup might not be as cute as Yukio, but I don’t want her to grow up fatherless.”

            She gave him a little smile. “Miyoko is plenty cute, she just doesn’t have the puppy ears.”

            “Or his hair, or little nose or big golden eyes…” he said, looking at the pup who was looking at them because he’d heard his name.

            “Kaa-san. Otou.”

            “Come here my little big dog,” Kagome said, opening her arms. Yukio wasted no time in going to her and snuggling into her side.

            “Okay, he  ** _is_**  cuter than Miyoko,” she agreed.

            “Kaa-san,” he gurgled, reaching for her breasts.

            She’d gotten him down to nursing only twice a day: once in the evening before bed and again when they woke in the morning. By now she was making so little milk, that he barely fed for five minutes, but it was enough to satisfy his need to suckle.

            “Mmmm, Kaa-san knows what you want,” she cooed, lifting her shirt.

            “Kaa-san! Oooo. Oood!” he replied enthusiastically.

            She’d barely gotten the nipple exposed before he was on it.

            “No teeth!” she reminded, and he gave a little grunt of agreement. “He’ll be the death of me,” she sighed.

            He shook his head. “I keep telling you, you have to harden your heart and let him cry. If you keep giving in, you’ll never get him weaned.”

            “I can’t do that, you know I can’t.”

            He shrugged. They’d been through this many times before over the past two months. In truth, he was amazed that she’d gotten him down as much as she had.

            “All things considered, though, you shouldn’t have been surprised by Miroku,” she said, obviously changing the subject.

            “Hm? Why is that?”

            “I was being honest when I said in this time men think women are just things they use to breed sons. A woman’s pleasure isn’t something that they would necessarily think about.”

             _‘What are we? A bunch of rutting animals that take our pleasure and don’t care if our partner is left wanting?’_

            “I don’t think that way,” he argued.

            “No, but you didn’t know much about lovemaking or giving pleasure when we first started. I had to teach you. If the men and women here don’t know about the things I do, how can they do any better?”

            “It’s not that hard!” he answered, repeating what he’d said to the houshi.  _‘It’s not. How hard is it to remember what makes your woman moan?’_  “They can learn. Besides, that bouzu was always such a letch! It makes me sick to think he used women for his own pleasure and didn’t care how they felt.”

            She gave him a tender smile, her eyes warm with approval, and he knew that he’d be getting and giving pleasure very soon. Yukio was already on the second breast and just about finished.

_‘Or I will if I have anything to say about it.’_

            “Miroku wasn’t as experienced as he would like us to believe.  ** _That_**  Sango  ** _did_**  tell me. He wasn’t a virgin like you were, but I don’t think he’d had more than two or three encounters before he met us, and for all his groping and suggestion, he never spent the night with any of the women we met.”

            “So it was all an act?”

            She nodded. “Mostly.”

            “Hmph! A letch  ** _and_**  a liar. Feh!”

            She giggled as she put Yukio down into his bed and checked his diaper. “Well still, I hope he does ask me for my books. They can only help, right?”

            He waited until she was finished changing him and settling him down in his bed, before pulling her into his arms and slipping one hand under her shirt.

            “Well, we certainly don’t need them anymore, do we?” he whispered huskily.

            “Confident you’ve learned all you need from them, are you?” she answered coyly.

            “Haven’t we?”

            She smiled wickedly, reached over to one of the cubbies where they kept their lovemaking supplies and pulled out a book. Turning to a random page, she showed him the illustration.

            “Maybe we should try this one tonight,” she suggested.

            “What’s with the chair? And even you’re not that flexible, and I’d bang my head on this low ceiling.”

            She began to laugh and he laughed with her, loving the feel of her in his arms and the heady freedom his heart enjoyed when he was alone with her.

_‘I never laughed until I met her. I stopped laughing when my mother died. Now I laugh again. This woman is amazing.’_

            She tossed the book over her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I guess we’ll just have to improvise then.”

            “Heh, that’s half the fun.”

            He kissed her and nothing more was said except when she moaned his name, or when he moaned hers, until the candles burned low and guttered out.

            Some untold hours later as they lay snuggled together in the dark with Yukio nestled next to them, their conversation at dinner came back to him and he frowned.

             _‘What if something has happened to Sesshoumaru? What would happen to Oyaji’s lands? It **has**  been too long. Maybe I ought to go see what’s happened.’_

            “Hey,” he whispered in the dark. He knew she was still awake.

            “Hmmm?” she murmured. “Again?”

            He chuckled and kissed her bare shoulder. “No. I’ll let you rest.”

            She rolled to her back, peering up at him in the darkness. He could see her perfectly, but he knew she was just about blind.

            “What is it then?”

            “Do you think I should go?” he asked suddenly.

            “Go? Go where?”

            “To check on Sesshoumaru.”  _‘If you think I should, I’ll go. I don’t want to, but…’_

            “Sesshoumaru? Are you really worried about him?”

            “Bah! Why would I worry about that asshole?”

            “Inuyasha,” she warned.

            “Well, he  ** _is!_** ”

            “Not in front of Yukio.”

            “He’s sleeping.”

            “That’s what you think.”

            He snorted. She was right, but she couldn’t see the pup in the dark so how would she know.

            “Do you want to go check on him?” she asked.

            “Not really, but it’s not a matter of wanting is it? If everything was alright, he’d have come for Rin. For whatever reason, he’s attached to that girl and I don’t think he would have left her for this long if everything was okay. Gives me a bad feeling.”

            She nodded. “I agree. How much time would you need?”

_‘Well, there’s my answer. She’s concerned like I am.’_

            “Ten days. I hate to say this, but could you take Yukio to your time while I’m gone? It’s been a while since any youkai have showed up to hunt him, but if I’m not around, you’re both vulnerable.”

            “You’re actually telling me to go home for ten days? That’s a first,” she teased.

            “Don’t get used to it, wench.”

            She giggled and kicked him lightly with her foot.

            “Ow. Watch it.”

            “Can you survive without me for that long?” she asked lightly.

             _‘I’ll miss you and crave you every day I am gone, but I can’t take you and the pup with me. Not when I might be going into a war zone.’_

            “I’ll try.”

            “Okay then. When do you want to leave?”

            “In the morning?”

            “That soon? That doesn’t give us much time to prepare.”

            “Bah. I don’t need anything. Tessaiga and the clothes on my back are all I need.”  _‘They’re all I own as well. All I have to give you. But you don’t care about that. You never did.’_

            “Travel light?”

            “And fast. On my own I can be there in three days.”

            Her eyes widened in the darkness. “ ** _That_**  fast?”

            “I don’t need to sleep and I can go a long time without food. When I’m really trying, I can go 80 to 90 ri in a day.”

            “80 to 90 ri in a day! That’s over 300 kilometers!”

            He shrugged. “It’s easy for me. I can go, see what’s going on, and come back.”

            “What if what you find there… isn’t good?”

            “Then I’ll find a way to send word that it’ll take longer. Maybe I’ll send the toad on that two-headed dragonet Sesshoumaru has.”

            “Okay. Do you want to hold off until tomorrow afternoon to give me time to go back and get ramen for you to take along?”

            His ears perked up at the sound of ‘ramen.’ “Yeah, okay.”

            She rolled towards him and snuggled close.

            “I’ll miss you. You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

            “Keh! Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

            “I know you will. You’re Inuyasha.”

             _‘You say that like I’ve got the whole world in the palm of my hands.’_ He wrapped his arms around his heart and soul.  _‘And maybe I do, right here in my arms.’_

            “Keh, sentimental woman.”

            “One of us has to be.”

            “Sentimental or a woman?” he teased, trying to cheer her sudden subdued mood.

            It worked because she giggled. Then her hand stroked his chest and he shivered.

_‘Is she…?’_

            “You’ll be gone a long time,” she whispered.

            “Feh, not that long.”

            “Long enough that I know what you’ll want to do the moment you see me again.”

            “Feh, I want that when I’ve been away from you for half a day.”

            “Letch.”

            He nuzzled her throat, growling. “Always.”

            She sighed. “Let’s make love again. Once more before you go.”

            “Only once? Are we slowing down already?”

            She laughed and he chuckled. “I love you,” she whispered.

            “Kagome…” he breathed, kissing her.

            They moved a mildly protesting Yukio to his sleeping space and covered him up with his blankets. Then he proceeded to telegraph his love for her with his body, letting his actions speak the words he felt he wasn’t permitted to say.

             _‘Someday, Kagome. Someday soon, I’ll declare my love for you and build you the finest house in all of Musashi country.’_

 

********

 

            He ended up leaving much later than he wanted, but there were many questions to be answered and plans to make before he left. They kept the real reason for his trip from Rin, not wanting to alarm the child by admitting they were worried.

            “This is very sudden, Kagome-chan,” Sango had said with concern.

            “But it’s been coming,” Kagome had replied. “Sesshoumaru should have sent for Rin by now.”

            “Yes, it is worrisome,” Miroku had admitted, casting an eye towards where Kohaku was ‘entertaining’ Rin.

            “I’ll be back in ten days. Hopefully. If not, then I’ll send word,” he’d assured them.

            “I’ll be going to my country with Yukio to protect him. With Inuyasha gone, if a youkai scents his hanyou blood, he could be at risk.”

            The others had agreed.

            “We’ll miss you Kagome,” Shippou had sniffed.

            “Oi! And not me?” he’d groused, threatening the kit with a fist.

            Shippou had yelped and hidden behind Kagome. “You’re still a meanie.”

            “Take Kirara with you,” Sango had offered, and the firecat had mewed her assent.

            “No. She should stay here and guard the village,” he’d replied, shaking his head.

            On the way to the well, Miroku had pulled him aside for a moment.

            “I want to thank you,” the houshi had said.

            “For what?”

            “For your… suggestion yesterday. It worked.”

            He’d chuckled softly. “Told you it would.”

            “You said Kagome has books?”

            “Ummm, yeah.”

            “Do you think she would…”

            As if by magic, Kagome had appeared by their side.

            “Here,” she had said, handing Miroku one of the aforementioned books. “Inuyasha said you wanted to read our books. This is the first one. The first few chapters cover the basics. After that, it goes into the advanced stuff not even Inuyasha and I have tried yet. I hope it helps.”

            She’d winked and smiled, then hurried to distract Sango before the taijiya had time to suspect anything was going on. Miroku had looked stunned, then flipped open the first pages and blushed.

            “Oh my…”

            He’d decided to enjoy the monk’s embarrassment. Peeping over the top of the book, he’d looked at the illustration the monk had turned to.

            “Oh yeah, that one. That one’s fun but you gotta be careful not to push her legs up too high or she’ll get a cramp.”

            Miroku had blushed even further, sputtered, slammed the book shut and shoved it quickly into his robes with a hastily mumbled thank you. He’d snickered all the way to the well, then teased the monk some more by telling Sango that he hoped she would have a ‘very enjoyable evening.’ The taijiya had given him an odd look so he’d winked at her and she’d blushed furiously.

            “Later!” he’d called and jumped into the well after Kagome and Yukio once they’d said their goodbyes.

            He’d come back through alone a few hours later after ramen shopping and another last lovemaking session that was more sweet and sad than wild. Shippou had been waiting for him when he climbed out of the well carrying a bag of Ninja food, and a second bag of medical supplies Kagome had bought for the old miko.

            “You  ** _are_**  coming back, right?” the kit had asked, his green eyes belying his worry.

            “Feh. Of course.”

            Shippou had looked away, crossing his arms. “Good.”

            Smiling, he’d taken the kit up in a rare hug and was hugged back. “I’m coming back, I promise. I won’t leave you and the others.”

            “Or Kagome.”

            “That goes without saying.”

            “You’ll be careful?”     

            “You know I will.”

            “Okay.”

            Shippou had moved to his shoulder and he’d carried the kit to the old woman’s hut where he gave her the bag from Kagome.

            “Be safe, Inuyasha,” Kaede had said, making a blessing over him.

            He’d bowed his head and thanked her for her gesture, unnecessary as it might have been.

            “I will, Kaede-babaa.”

            “Bring back good news for that poor child.”

            “I will try. That’s why I’m going.”

            He’d left the hut before the ache in his heart got to be too much to bear, much the same way he had left a sadly quiet Kagome and openly crying Yukio in her time. Then he’d gathered his resolve and courage, took one last look at the village he called home and leaped off to the West.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m getting a bunch of comments about breastfeeding as birth control. Yes, breastfeeding women don’t usually ovulate but only if 1) they feed on demand every 4 hours and no longer than 6 hours at night with no other supplemental feeding, the infant is less than 6 months old, and the woman had not resumed menstruating. The conditions for this type of birth control are very specific, and while 98% effective while in effect, it is unreliable because it is very easy to break the conditions and once a woman starts menstruating again, all bets are off. I know of at least 2 women who have had “Oops, but I was breastfeeding” babies. Kagome does not meet these requirements for a number of reasons, therefore she would not be protected.
> 
> Glossary of terms used in this chapter:
> 
> Geta- sandals  
> Hei- low-roofed defensive walls of a castle.  
> Yagura- ‘arrow house’- housed weapons and soldiers.  
> Tenshu- main keep or tower of the castle  
> Honmaru- innermost bailey of a castle (where the Tenshu is located)  
> Ninomaru- second bailey  
> Sannomaru- third and outermost bailey
> 
> Okay, I’ll shut up now and let you find out what I did to poor Fluffy.

Chapter Twenty-Four

           

            It had been so long since he had traveled unfettered that he’d forgotten what it was like. The ground was a green blur beneath him as he ran, leaping from tree top to tree top, the sky an endless sea of white-capped blue. It struck him as odd that he actually noticed stuff like the green and the blue when before he couldn’t care less what the land around him looked like. He blamed Kagome’s influence. The woman was always pointing out how lovely this field looked or how nice the view was or some such female nonsense about trees and flowers and the weather, but when he finally reached the outskirts of the Western Lands two days later, he had to admit that it was beautiful.

            The weather was warm with autumn coming late to the temperate land, and he remembered well the long sunny days and mild winters of his brief childhood. One of the first things he had done once he was self-sufficient was leave the Western Lands behind with a vow never to return. He hadn’t kept that vow, of course. Shard hunts had brought him there a number of times over the years, but he never went there unless he had a reason, and he always avoided his father’s stronghold. He had nothing but painful memories of the great house on the coast. It was there that Sesshoumaru brought him after his mother had died, it was there that he learned what it meant to be a hanyou among youkai, it was there he had spent some of the most painful and sad years of his young life. He hated that place more than he hated any other place in the whole of Nihon. And now he was willingly going back there. He knew he must be insane.

            Two days into his trip, he began noticing signs of invasion. Villages were damaged, rice fields destroyed, and the signs and scents of recent violence and death tainted the normally sweet wind. On the morning of the third day, he stopped in one small village that seemed to have been severely affected. All of their fields had been decimated.

             _‘Fucking bastards. These people will starve if they can’t replace the food before the growing season ends.’_

            He saw one rice field that had had all of its banks destroyed and the precious water needed to grow the rice had run off.

_‘Damnit.’_

            He was staring at the destruction when he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see a group of peasant women, all looking wan and weary, staring at him with fear and hope in their eyes. They regarded each other for several long moments then one of the youngest ones ran forward and threw herself at his feet.

_‘What the?’_

            “Inugami-sama!  Inugami-sama, please help us!” she begged. “Our fields are destroyed and our oxen driven off. All of our men are gone and not returned. We are defenseless and helpless.”

            Another of the women, looking older with earth-stained hands and a worn face, came to try to drag the woman away.

            “Hitomi, come away. Do not trouble the lord with our petty problems…”

_‘Petty problems? Woman, your fields are destroyed and you’re all going to starve if you don’t do something! Where the fuck is my brother? Not even he would have let this go unanswered!’_

            “Get up,” he ordered, crossing his arms over his chest.

            Both women scrambled to their feet, bowing and trembling.

            “Forgive her, my lord. She is young and unused to hardship…”

            “What happened here?” he demanded.

            “An army, my lord. A terrible army came. They raided the village. They took our food and our able bodied men…” the older one replied, her eyes down in respect.

            “They took everything! The food, our men, and our beasts! Then youkai came and destroyed the fields! We have nothing left! We will all starve!” the young one sobbed.

            “Where is this army now?”

            “It marched West, my lord, to make war upon the Great Lord,” the older woman answered, eyes still down.

            “How long ago was this?”

            “Nigh on two moons, my lord.”

_‘Two moons… Shit. Something **must**  have happened to Sesshoumaru… Fuck!’_

            “Have you heard news of the army’s success?” he asked carefully.

            “A man coming from the coast said the army was routed and survivors were fleeing. He said several villages had been attacked and burned by soldiers and youkai running away from the Great Lord,” the young one blurted.

_‘So Sesshoumaru did rout the army. But if that’s true, why isn’t he seeing to his people? He always took his responsibilities seriously. Even if he himself didn’t see to it, he had seneschals and underlings who would.’_

            “And what news of the Lord?”

            The older one ventured a brief glance, but dropped her eyes immediately when he looked at her.

            “Rumor has it that the Great Lord retreated into his castle after the last battle and has not been seen since.”

             _‘So was he wounded? Did he rout the army then die? What the fuck is going on here?!’_

            “If your men have not returned, you will have to fix your fields yourselves,” he told them. “You said the army took your beasts?”

            The older woman nodded while the younger began to cry. “What ones they could catch. We freed as many as we could before the soldiers could take them and chased them into the forests, but many were eaten and those that are left are too smart for us to catch.”

            He sighed.  _‘I don’t have time for this, but if I don’t help these people, they’ll starve. Kagome will understand. She’d want me to help them.’_

            “Alright. I will find and catch your beasts, and help you repair your rice fields. After that, the rest will be up to you.”

            The young one collapsed, sobbing in relief. Even the older one bowed more deeply and he could smell tears on her face.

            “Thank you, my lord.”

            “Gather your women and your tools. How many beasts am I looking for?”

            “Only two or three are left, my lord, and we have seen them in the lower forest.”

            “Miyu tried to catch one this morning, but it got away,” the young one added.

            He grunted that he understood and set off to catch the oxen. There turned out to be three and a half because one had dropped a calf. He grabbed them by their horns and dragged them, mooing loudly, to a corral the women had hastily prepared. The calf he just picked up and tossed in, figuring it would know which one was its mother.

            With the oxen corralled, he turned his attention to the fields. His first priority was to repair the rice paddies, and he rolled up his haori sleeves, pulled back his hair, and set to work on the ruptured banks. About twenty women came to help him, packing the earth he dug up with his claws into the holes. It was slow work, even for him, and he did not finish before late afternoon.

            Afterwards, he went into the village at the head woman’s insistence. There he found a number of other women who were either too old or left caring for young pups to help in the fields. All of them looked tired and hungry, and the pups were too thin, their eyes haunted and sad. He knew he didn’t have enough Ninja food to feed them all, but he gave them what he had and showed them how to make it.

             _‘It’ll be enough to feed the pups, and I thought I smelled a couple of boars in the forest. I can catch them and they’ll feed the women.’_

            Not one to rest while there was still work to be done, and driven by an unspoken need to right the wrongs left behind by the army, he went into the forest to hunt. He brought back three boars, a stag, and an armful of rabbits and ground birds. If the women rationed the food, it would be enough to feed them for several days.

            “Inugami-sama, please,” one of the women begged. “You have worked all day in the heat and not stopped to rest or eat. Please, rest with us. We will prepare you a meal and draw you a bath.”

            “Keh, don’t waste your food on me. I’m fine.” But he knew he wasn’t fine. He’d been traveling non-stop for over two days, and had spent the afternoon working hard. He was exhausted, filthy, and starving, but he wasn’t about to take food he knew these women didn’t have.

_‘Plenty of fish in the streams…’_

            “We insist, my lord. You gave us your magic food to feed the children and brought us all of this game. Please allow us to show you our gratitude. We have little to offer, but what we have we have to share. You have saved our lives with your help today. We must do something for you,” the headwoman pleaded.

            He sighed heavily, but gave in, if only for the bath and a few hours of sleep. They guided him to a hut that contained a large wooden tub and filled it with hot water. One woman offered to take his clothes, giving him a white yukata to change into, and two offered to stay and ‘wash his back.’ He refused, a little harshly, but he was tired and hungry.

             _‘And sweaty and lonely. Kagome. I miss you so much. I see these women and they need so much that I can’t give them. If you were here, you’d be out there comforting them and using your medicine. I’m no good at any of this.’_

            “Please forgive them, my lord,” the headwoman said, making the trembling girls leave.

            “I’m sorry. I’ve been traveling a long time and I’m tired. It makes me cranky. Besides, I already have someone who is special to me and we have a pup. I would never betray her.”

            The headwoman nodded. “The fidelity of your kind is well known, my lord. Inu-youkai mate for life, and nothing but death can sway them from their bond.”

 _‘Mate for life? Yes, we do. But Kagome’s life will be much shorter than mine. I’ll have barely reached middle age when she is an old woman. There will come a time when I’ll have to live without her,’_ he thought sadly.

            He moved behind a paper screen and disrobed, putting on the yukata. When he came out, the headwoman bowed deeply.

            “Do you wish your clothes to be washed and mended?”

            “No. My clothes are special and linked to my youki. They will mend and clean themselves.”

            “Remarkable clothes.”

            He grunted and looked at the bath. Soap, rinse water, towels, a bathing brush on a long handle, and a bathing stool had been put out for him.

_‘No ‘shampoo’ though. That’s something from Kagome’s time.’_

            “Is there anything else you require?”

            “Privacy.”

            “As you wish, my lord,” the headwoman answered and backed out of the hut, still bowing.

            Sitting on the stool, he dropped the yukata and scrubbed his body clean, then he rinsed with the rinse water and got into the large tub for a long soak. He almost fell asleep in the hot water, but noise from outside the hut roused him and he let out a warning growl loud enough for the intruders to hear.

            “Don’t even  ** _think_**  about coming in here!” he snarled, using one of Kagome’s ‘modern’ terms.

            There were frightened squeals and the sound of running feet, then the sound of the headwoman scolding the girls as she caught them fleeing the scene of the crime. He waited a few more minutes until he was certain no one else was planning to peep before getting out of the tub, drying off and dressing in his clothes. When he was ready, he stepped out of the hut and the headwoman, who had been waiting for him at the entrance of a hut across the way, came over to guide him to his meal and rest.

            The food was a meager supper of boiled roots and gathered vegetables. One of the ground birds he had killed had also been de-boned and the meat roasted on spits. He ate only the bare minimum required for politeness’ sake, knowing that none of it would go to waste if he left it, then asked to be shown where he could sleep.

            “Please pardon my forwardness my lord, but are you any relation to our Great Lord?” the headwoman asked as he was led to yet  ** _another_**  hut that had been prepared for him.

            “Sesshoumaru is my half-brother,” he replied, deliberately leaving off the term of respect.

            “Your half-brother? Then you are…”

            “A hanyou. Yes.”

            He waited for her disgust and hatred, but it did not come. Instead, she lowered her gaze and nodded.

            “Years ago my father told me a legend passed to him by his father of a younger brother to the Great Lord who had been cast out.”

            He snorted. “Cast out? I  ** _left_** , woman. No one cast me out.”

            “He said there were rumors that the rejected brother would one day return with an army to steal the Great Lord’s lands.”

            “Is that so? Sounds just like my brother’s pansy-assed seneschals.”

            “I must admit, when the army came I feared it was the legend coming true, but their leader was a human; a man who called himself Takasho Nimori.”

_‘Hmmph, never heard of him.’_

            He nodded. “Sesshoumaru said it was a human army that threatened him.”

            “Not just human. Before the army came, a man passing through on his way to the coast warned us that he had heard tale of the Great Lord’s marshal betraying him.”

             _‘So that’s what Sesshoumaru meant when he said not of all his subjects were trustworthy. I feel sorry for anyone who dares to betray my brother. He’d rend them limb from limb then leave them alive just to suffer.’_

            “My lord, have you returned for good?” the headwoman asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

            “No. I just came to check on my brother. I live in Musashi country now.”

            “Musashi? You have come a long way.”

            “More than 200 ri and I have further to go before I reach my brother’s castle.”

            They stopped outside of the hut and he turned to her. “I’ll rest for a while then go. No one is to bother me.”

            The headwoman bowed. “I will see that your wishes are obeyed, my lord. You have been so kind to us. It is the least we can do.”

            “Thank you. I’ll try to come back on my way home to let you know what’s happening, and if any of your men are coming home.”

            The headwoman took his hands and kissed them. “Thank you, my lord.”

            He nodded to her then entered the hut, making sure the reed door fell closed behind him. A little fire had been lit in the pit, and a futon with fresh bedding had been laid out for him. Seeing the sleeping space, his heart ached and he wished for a cozy den that smelled of fresh hay and Kagome.

_‘Kagome. I wish you were here. I don’t know if I can sleep alone anymore.’_

            He didn’t bother with the futon, but sat with his back to the far wall, Tessaiga resting against his shoulder. Sleep came slowly, but it did come because his body desperately needed it. He slept lightly for only four or five hours, but it was enough for his hanyou body to ‘recharge its batteries’ as Kagome would say.

            It was the middle of the night when he emerged from the hut and the village was quiet and still. He caught two night hares and left them in the hut as an offering for their hospitality, then moved to continue on his journey to the Great House.

_‘Hell if I know what I’m going to find there.’_

 

********

           

            Morning dawned on the fourth day and found him less than 20 ri away from the coast. He’d stopped again to wait for dawn because he wanted to see clearly. Now he was regretting that decision.

            The human army had trampled the land in one huge swath that looked like a massive road leveled by hundreds of feet, all leading to his father’s House. Any village in its path was ransacked, then attacked by the youkai that followed the army, feeding on the dead and the dying. Over and over he saw the same plight of the people as he had seen in the little village the day before: women left behind, men conscripted to fight, fields decimated and pups starving. And no one had heard a word of the Great Lord. They knew the army had been defeated, the human leader killed, and the remaining soldiers were running for their lives, but of the Great Lord, they knew nothing.

            And everywhere, the rabble of the youkai world- the carrion eaters- wreaked havoc on the countryside. The bastards actually had the audacity to challenge him; to call him ‘filthy, weak hanyou’ and try to kill him. They were pathetic excuses for youkai and he didn’t even bother to soil Tessaiga with their blood. By the time he reached the familiar coastline, he was worried, pissed off and fed up.

             _‘Sesshoumaru, you asshole. You’d better be dead, because if you’re not and aren’t gravely wounded, **I’m**  killing you myself!’_

            The worst damage was just outside the walls of the Great House. Bordered by the sea on one side, and sheer cliffs on two others, the only way to lay siege to it was from the north side. It looked like the army had attempted to breach the first defensive walls but that was the furthest they got. Parts of the hei had been burned in what was an obvious effort to use fire to burn the Great House down, but that was the only damage the castle sustained.

             _‘Stupid assholes. You think a taiyoukai’s castle would be vulnerable to fire? Were you guys complete idiots?’_

            The long barren plain approaching the castle was a scorched graveyard of hundreds of human skeletons that were picked clean by the carrion-eaters. Bones and bits of hair and armor were scattered all over the hard, blackened ground, and everywhere the scent of blood and death lingered. What disturbed him most, however, were the remains of a huge cremation pyre just outside the Great House’s main gates. The bones here were not human, but youkai- and not lowlife youkai either. Judging by the scraps of armor and clothing that had escaped total incineration, the bodies appeared to be some of Sesshoumaru’s seneschals.

_‘He killed his own seneschals? What the fuck is going on here?! These were the ones left in charge when he went off hunting Naraku! Why the fuck would he kill them?’_

            The last body answered some questions. It was what was left of Sesshoumaru’s Lord Marshal. Not even the carrion-eaters had dared to touch the corpse of the inu-youkai who had been dismembered, flayed open and nailed to a massive tree trunk that had been forcibly rammed into the ground directly in front of the gates. All four limbs had been removed, the rib cage cracked apart and the abdomen sliced open. The body was contorted in agony, the sightless skull frozen in a horrible scream.

             _‘Looks like someone disemboweled him then injected him with poison. He was dissolved alive from the inside out and there was fuck all he could do about it because his arms and legs were ripped off,’_  he thought, holding his nose to block out the stench of rotted flesh and the remnants of his brother’s poison claws.  _‘Whatever you did, you must have really pissed Sesshoumaru off. Were the rumors true that you betrayed my brother? If they were, it looks like he went easy on you.’_

            With no small amount of trepidation, he moved around the tree with its grotesque warning, and scaled the gates and inner walls to reach the honmaru. Once inside the inner circle, he noticed the complete lack of life. Where normally the Great House would have its youkai retainers, staff and defenders, now there wasn’t a hint of activity. The tenshu was deserted and in a terrible state of neglect. Parts of it looked smashed and blown away, and two of the yagura had been destroyed.

             _‘Not quite deserted…’_  he thought, catching a familiar scent and heading for it.

            He found Jaken huddled outside the closed shoji of the Great Hall. The little toad looked shell-shocked and was staring off into space.

            “Oi. Toad,” he said, making Jaken nearly jump out of his skin.

            “Inuyasha?!” the small youkai exclaimed.

            “What the fuck is going on here?”

            Jaken focused on him and stared at him for a long time, then the little toad ran to him and threw himself at his feet.

            “Inuyasha-sama!”

            “Eh?”  _‘What is it with people throwing themselves at my feet? And the toad has never called me Inuyasha-sama!’_ A cold feeling of dread filled him. ‘ _Does this mean that Sesshoumaru... NO! There’s no body! And everyone I’ve talked to said that Sesshoumaru defeated the army. He can’t be dead!’_

            He kicked Jaken lightly. “Get up and tell me what the fuck is going on here! Where is my brother!?”

            Jaken sat up, his huge eyes watery, his small body trembling. “Sesshoumaru-sama lies within,” he replied, pointing to the closed doors.

            He snorted and moved to open the doors but Jaken stopped him

            “You must not! He will kill you if you approach him. He’s killed anyone who has tried. He even attacked this Jaken, his faithful servant for over a hundred years!”

_‘So he is still alive. Phew.’_

            He sat down cross-legged in front of the toad. “Tell me what the fuck happened here.”

            Tears spilled out of Jaken’s eyes. “It was horrible. At first it was just Sesshoumaru-sama defeating that insolent human and his pathetic army. Jaken fought by his side and Sesshoumaru-sama laid waste to them in a day. He left the bodies to rot as a warning to any others who might try to come after or seek revenge. He hunted the stragglers and struck them down as well. Then he returned to the House. I thought we would have a celebration to commemorate his swift victory, but he came back with murder in his eyes.”

            Jaken shuddered at the memory. “Long we had suspected that there was a betrayer. The army had magical wards to protect them and hide them from detection, and they had been granted passage across the country in Sesshoumaru-sama’s absence. When Sesshoumaru-sama returned from hunting the last of the human rabble, he knew that the betrayer was Manshirou, his own Lord Marshal! He attacked and their battle was terrible!”

            “Was Sesshoumaru wounded?” he interrupted.

            Jaken shook his head. “Not seriously. Tenseiga protected him from the worst of it.”

            “So he fought Manshirou here. That’s how the yagura got blown up?”

            Jaken nodded. “But I haven’t told you the most horrible part. Manshirou had conspired with that hated Naraku to plot Sesshoumaru-sama’s death!”

            “WHAT?!”

            The toad nodded again, furiously. “It would seem he was hoping Sesshoumaru-sama would be defeated by Naraku and then he would seize the Western Lands, but Sesshoumaru-sama would never lose to a lowly hanyou!”

            He winced but ignored the insult.

            “When Sesshoumaru-sama defeated Naraku, Manshirou plotted to kill Sesshoumaru-sama himself!”

            “Oi!  ** _I_**  defeated Naraku!”

            “Never! I witnessed it myself! Sesshoumaru-sama dealt the killing blow!”

            He whacked the toad on the head. “You were too busy hiding behind that two-headed dragonet with Rin to see me destroy Naraku with my Tessaiga, you coward!”

            “It’s not true!”

            He grabbed Jaken and shook him, then realized if he killed the toad, he’d never find out what happened. He threw him roughly to the floor and pulled Tessaiga.

            “Tell me what happened next.”

            Jaken began to shake violently, but not with fear of Tessaiga. “Sesshoumaru-sama defeated Manshirou and began to mete out punishment. He dismembered Manshirou and skewered him to a tree...”

            “I saw what he did,” he interrupted.

            Jaken shook his head. “No... you don’t understand. Sesshoumaru-sama used Tenseiga on him to... to...”

             _‘He can’t be serious! He didn’t... He didn’t! Not even my brother would do such a thing!’_

            “Don’t tell me he used Tenseiga to revive him then kill him again!”

            Trembling even more, Jaken nodded. “He did it twice before Tenseiga rejected him.”

_‘Tenseiga rejected my brother?’_

            “He threw his father’s sword away and then... he went mad.”

            “Went mad?”

            Jaken nodded. “He drew Toukijin and began killing. Manshirou had conspirators, and he killed those first, but then he moved on to anyone who was in his path: servants, courtiers... anyone who dared to come near him. Most deserted him and escaped with their lives; the rest he burned.”

_‘The cremation pyre of youkai bones...’_

            “At first I thought Toukijin had taken him over the way it did Kaijinbou, but Sesshoumaru-sama’s eyes were clear and he spoke with his own voice. I ran and hid, but I would not abandon my lord, so I waited until it was all over. Sesshoumaru-sama had retreated into the Great Hall. A few of the servants who remained faithful to him tried to reach him, but he struck them down. Their bodies lie within. I tried, but he struck at my voice and barely missed. The rest left, fleeing this place, but I remained behind. He’s... been in there ever since.”

            He sighed, his heart heavy, and sheathed Tessaiga. Then he stood and looked at the closed shoji.

            “I will deal with Sesshoumaru.”  _‘What can I do if he’s gone crazy?’_

            Jaken stood and grabbed his haori sleeve. “You must not. If Sesshoumaru-sama is not fit to rule, then you are rightfully the new lord! If Sesshoumaru-sama kills you, the Western Lands will fall into the hands of the rabble!”

            “Bah! I don’t want these lands. You’ve said it yourself. I’m a lowly hanyou. The inu-youkai would never accept me as their leader.”

             _‘What was it that pushed him over the edge? Was it Tenseiga’s rejection? If the sword accepted him again, would he return to reason?’_

            “Where is Tenseiga now, Jaken?”

            Jaken turned and led the way out of the house. The sword was lying by the garden next to the partially decomposed body of the two-headed dragonet.

            “Ah-Un was killed during the fight between Sesshoumaru-sama and Manshirou,” Jaken explained sadly. “Rin will be so sad. She was very fond of Ah-Un.”

            “Sesshoumaru brought Rin to us before the fight.”

            Jaken nodded. “I know. We discovered a plot to steal her, and Sesshoumaru brought her to you to keep her out of danger.”

_‘So that’s why he needed me to keep an eye on the kid!’_

            “I am very glad she was not here to see what happened. She would not have run away and she would certainly have been killed.”

             _‘Maybe... or maybe that girl could have been for Sesshoumaru what Kagome is for me: a reminder of my heart.’_

            Nodding, he approached Tenseiga and knelt before the sword. He knew both this sword and his own had sentience, and chose their masters carefully.

             _‘Tenseiga, you rejected Sesshoumaru because he used you for evil and dishonored Oyaji, didn’t you?’_

            He took Tessaiga out of its sheath and placed it beside its twin.

             _‘Tenseiga, Tessaiga: forged from Oyaji’s fangs until Tessaiga was broken and repaired with mine, but still Oyaji’s fang lives in my blade. Tenseiga, great sword of healing, will you help me for a short time?’_  he addressed respectfully.

            Slowly, he reached for the hilt, his hand shaking slightly.

_‘Will you reject me as Tessaiga rejects Sesshoumaru?’_

            His hand closed on the hilt and there was a long, tense moment, then Tenseiga pulsed twice in his hand and transformed, the blade beginning to glow with an unearthly blue light. He breathed a sigh of relief.

_‘Thank you, Tenseiga.’_

            With his free hand, he picked up Tessaiga and put it back in its sheath. Then he stood and moved to walk away, but Tenseiga pulsed again.

_‘What is it?’_

            He saw shadows moving in his peripheral vision, and looked at the body of Ah-Un. In the light cast by the sword he thought he saw... little ghouls picking at the corpse.

_‘What are those things? Are... are they what Sesshoumaru strikes at when he uses Tenseiga? Will it even work after the body has been dead all this time?’_

            Tenseiga pulsed again and he felt the pull.   _‘I guess so. Okay then, it’s obvious what you want, so here goes...’_

            Swinging the blade, he struck at the ghouls and killed them. They disappeared with little shrieks and the moment they did, Ah-Un’s body healed and became whole again.

_‘Wow.’_

            He looked at Jaken, who was sputtering with shock.

            “Inuyasha-sama...”

            Behind him, Ah-Un groaned and began to struggle to stand.

            “Toad, stay with the dragonet. I’m going to bring my brother back his sword.”

            Jaken bowed and did as ordered, staying with the newly revived dragonet while he went back into the house. Steeling his nerve, he marched to the Great Hall and threw open the shoji.

            “Oi! Sesshoumaru, you asshole! What the fuck do you think you’re...” He stopped because the hall was empty except for the rotting bodies of three servants.  _‘What the fuck? He’s not here?’_

            A breeze from behind the main throne brought his brother’s scent to him and he crossed the room, moving behind a separating screen to find a portion of the outer wall slid open to the sea. The covered walkway looked out over the cliffs and the crashing waves below.

            Moving out of the house to the narrow gangway, he turned and saw Sesshoumaru at the end of the corridor. His brother was slumped against the side of the house, staring out at the sea. Physically, he did not seem harmed, but the look on his face froze Inuyasha to the core.

            “Oi! Sesshoumaru!” he began, making his way over.

            Sesshoumaru moved almost too fast to see. Toukijin was out and striking, a blast of power flying his way. Instinctively, he raised his hands to protect himself, blocking the blow with Tenseiga. The sword pulsed and deflected the blast, sending the energy careening harmlessly off into the air.

             _‘Tensegia..._ ’ “Keh! Nice try,” he taunted.

            Sesshoumaru glared at him from the corner of his eye. He hadn’t moved from his spot on the gangway floor.

            “So Tenseiga chooses its new master. A worthless half-breed. Take that useless thing and go,” the inu-youkai ordered, hate in his voice.

            “Feh! Not hardly. Like I’d want your sword. It just wanted me to come in here and kick some sense into your stupid ass.”

            Sesshoumaru struck again, and again he blocked with Tenseiga.

            “Insolent whelp!”

            “You’re one to talk! I’m not the one sitting here staring at fucking seagulls while your lands fall apart!”

            “What do I care for these lands?! They are full of worthless humans and  ** _traitors!_** ”

            The youkai lord flew to his feet and rushed at him, Toukijin slashing. He leapt back, almost hitting his head on the roof of the walkway and blocked with Tenseiga. Tenseiga pulsed and let out a burst of energy every time the demon sword hit it as Sesshoumaru tried to cut his brother.

 _‘Shit! He’s fucking nuts!’_  he thought as he was pushed back again. Tenseiga continued to protect him and he did nothing offensive towards his brother, merely defended and trusted in his father’s fang.

            “They’re yours! Oyaji left them to you! You always took care of them! You said it was your duty as Oyaji’s heir. You never got involved in the humans’ petty disputes and you didn’t dispense Law, but you made sure they weren’t starving or being slaughtered.”

            “They are the scum that rose against me!”

            “That bastard Takasho Nimori wasn’t from here! He was a foreigner who stole men from the villages and forced them to fight if they wanted to protect their families! Half of them didn’t even know you were back and thought they were fighting Manshirou!”

            “You will not say that cursed name in my presence, hanyou!”

            Blades clashed and he held his ground, gritting his teeth and meeting Sesshoumaru’s furious glare.

            “I came all the way here because you left your brat with me, and she was pining for you so much that she wouldn’t fucking shut up! I find villages burned, fields destroyed, women and pups starving, carrion-eaters running around doing whatever they damn well please, and my good-for-nothing brother who thinks he’s so much better than me, staring off at the tides!!”

            Using all of his strength, he thrust Sesshoumaru backwards, sending him flying down the gangway.

            “Why am I, the bastard hanyou, the one your seneschals have been saying was  ** _cast_**   ** _out_** , doing more for your people than you are?”

            “FILTHY HALF-BREED! Know your place and lick the ground!” Sesshoumaru seethed, rising to his feet, his face starting to elongate.

_‘Shit! He’s gonna transform!’_

            “I don’t bow to anyone! Least of all you! Go ahead and show your true form if you want to lose your other arm! I’ve got both of Oyaji’s swords and I took down Ryuukotsusei who killed Oyaji! Do you  ** _really_**  think you can beat me in the state you’re in?”

            “How dare you threaten me, you worthless cur!” the taiyoukai raged, but he did stop transforming.

            “If you’ve got the energy to fight me, you’d be better off using it to rid Oyaji’s lands of the rabble that are taking it over! The one who is responsible for these lands isn’t me, it’s you, and you’ve got hordes of carrion eaters out there laying waste to  ** _your_**  countryside.”

            As if on cue a mass of writhing lower youkai appeared on the cliffs, drawn by the sounds of battle and the promise of fresh meat, and Sesshoumaru turned hateful eyes their way.

             _‘Heh, there’s only one thing Sesshoumaru hates more than me, and it’s those pathetic bastards.’_

            “Low-life SCUM!” Sesshoumaru roared, flying out to attack the carrion-eaters with Toukijin.

            ‘ _And I’ll give you a hand,’_  he thought gleefully, shoving Tenseiga into his waistband and drawing Tessaiga as he leaped after his brother.

            “Kaze no Kizu!”

            He blasted a horde of them, sending their bits and pieces falling into the sea.

            “Heh! Take that!”

            Suddenly, Sesshoumaru slammed into him, knocking him down to the cliff. He skidded on his back, thinking that Sesshoumaru had just attacked him, but the taiyoukai only had eyes for his new prey.

_‘What the fuck?’_

            “Stay out of this, hanyou!” Sesshoumaru ordered, before turning his blade to the carrion-eaters.            

            At first, he was pissed off, but then he saw the light back in his brother’s eyes and laughed to himself.

             _‘Okay, you wanna do the ass-kicking, I’ll let you. I’ve done plenty of it already. I’ll let you have some of the fun.’_

            He sat back and watched as Sesshoumaru made short work of the youkai too stupid to run away.

            “Get out of my lands, worthless rabble,” the inu-youkai growled, finishing off the remainder of them before coming to stand next to where he sat on the cliff.

            “Keh! There’s plenty more where they came from. The whole of the Western Lands is infested with them. I killed countless of them on my way here.”

            Sesshoumaru growled again.

            “Hey, what do you expect? You’ve been fucking brooding for two months, of course they’re gonna move in and take what opportunities they can. They’re fucking scavengers and you’ve got a whole field of bodies out there for them to feast on while you were staring off into space. What the hell happened to you Sesshoumaru?”

            His brother didn’t answer, but faced the sea, his long white hair blowing in the wind. Then he turned and leaped back to the Great House, disappearing into the Great Hall. Inuyasha followed.

            Sesshoumaru crossed through the Great Hall and walked out of the house, not stopping until he had left the main entrance. Inuyasha found him outside in the courtyard, staring at Jaken who was standing there with Ah-Un. The toad youkai bowed deeply, his nose almost touching the ground.

            “Sesshoumaru-sama.”

            “Jaken.”

            There was silence, then Sesshoumaru spoke again, this time softly. “You stayed.”

            “This Jaken would never abandon his lord.”

            The inu-youkai did not reply, but Inuyasha swore he saw the cold golden eyes soften.

             _‘Hmmm, maybe Kagome is right about him and he isn’t as hard-hearted as I thought he was.’_

            Sesshoumaru moved and he, Jaken and Ah-Un followed him past the smashed yagura and out of the honmaru. The inu-youkai crossed through the ninomaru and sannomaru and came to the main gates. He opened them and exited the castle stronghold, sparing only a glance for what was left of his Lord Marshal as he walked.

            They came to the scorched battlefield full of human bones and Sesshoumaru stopped to survey the sight. Inuyasha came to stand beside him and spied a group of bones that caught his particular attention. Judging by the scraps of clothing and simple geta scattered around where their feet would have been, it was obvious that these men had been peasants, probably conscript farmers from one of the villages. He saw Sesshoumaru turn his head to look where he was staring, and a little frown marred the normally expressionless face.

_‘He sees what I see. Poor bastards forced to their death.’_

            In his waistband, Tenseiga pulsed.

            ‘ _Hmmm, Tenseiga. You don’t like it either do you? Are you ready to go back to your master?’_

            The sword pulsed again and he nodded, pulling it from his waistband.

            “Oi. Sesshoumaru,” he said, offering his brother the blade.

            Sesshoumaru was silent for several moments, then spoke, “Tenseiga has rejected me and chosen a new master.”

            He shook his head. “Tenseiga rejected you because you abused its power and dishonored Oyaji. I think it will take you back if you vow to never use it to cause pain again.”

            The inu-youkai stared at the sword for a long time, then tentatively reached out to grasp the hilt. Inuyasha saw the uncertainty in his brother’s eyes and did his best not to smirk.

_‘Taken down a notch or two, eh, asshole?’_

            Sesshoumaru’s hand closed on the hilt and the sword did nothing for several seconds, then it pulsed and transformed. Showing more emotion than he’d ever seen his brother show, he watched as Sesshoumaru lifted the sword from his hands, touched the hilt to his forehead, and closed his eyes with relief. Then he turned and held the blade high.

            “Now hanyou, witness the true power of Tenseiga.”

            Sesshoumaru swung the blade once in the direction of the dead peasants.

_‘He’s killing those little ghouls...’_

            En masse, the bones grew flesh and the bodies healed, revealing a group of thirty or so simple farmers.

_‘Shit! All of them at once!’_

            The farmers drew breath and began to sit up, looking at their hands and at each other.

            “What happened?” one asked another.

            “I don’t know. The last thing I remember was fire...”

            “You were dead,” Sesshoumaru said simply.

            The farmers turned their heads in their direction, eyes flying wide open when they saw the inu-youkai and his entourage standing there.

_‘Heh, never seen the ‘Great Lord’ up close have you?’_

            “My Lord!” one cried and threw himself to the ground. The others followed suit.

            “You were dead. Now you are alive. Go back to your villages and trouble me no longer. Your families and homes need you.”

            “My Lord, did you revive us?” another of the men asked.

            “Is there another here who possesses that power?” Sesshoumaru asked coldly.

_‘Keh! Now they’re going to think you’re a fucking god!’_

            “N... no my Lord!”

            “Go home. Tell your villages that this Sesshoumaru rules the Western Lands again and will not tolerate rebellion.”

            The peasants stood on shaky legs and bowed repeatedly as they backed away. Finally, they turned and ran off, moving as fast as their legs could carry them. Sesshoumaru watched them go impassively, his face once again a mask of stoic calm.

            “Jaken,” the taiyoukai called.

            “Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama,” the toad youkai replied, coming to stand next to his lord.

            “Take Ah-Un and gather your tribe. Bring them here to begin work on repairing Chichi-ue’s house,” Sesshoumaru ordered.

            “Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. Immediately, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

            “And send word to the other inu-youkai Houses that this Sesshoumaru rules again. Their courtiers are to return here, but they are to be warned that traitors will suffer the same fate as Manshirou,” he added.

            “Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. This Jaken will see it done.”

            As the toad-youkai did as commanded, Sesshoumaru began to walk among the skeletons. Inuyasha followed silently and it soon became apparent that his brother was searching for more peasants. Each time he found one or a group of them, he would use Tenseiga and return them to life. Some he could not revive because the bones had been scattered by the carrion-eaters, but each time he found one intact, he wasted no time in using the healing sword. The invading army made it easy for him by putting all of the conscripts in the front lines. One swing of Tenseiga and he could revive dozens at once.

             _‘That sword… that sword is amazing. How could he have ever hated it and resented Oyaji for giving Tessaiga to me? Look how effortlessly he wields that blade. He resurrects fifty of them with one swing and barely breaks a sweat.’_

            But he knew that what Sesshoumaru was doing wasn’t easy, and he could see the strain on his brother’s face as he walked the battlefield. However, the inu-youkai did not stop until every peasant that could be revived had been returned to life. They huddled in confused groups until Sesshoumaru ordered them to return to their homes, then they dispersed, each heading for home as fast as they could go to spread the news of the Great Lord’s mercy and divine power.

            “You said there were villages burned and fields destroyed?” Sesshoumaru asked him once their work on the battlefield was done.

            “Yeah, lots of them,” he answered.

            “You will show me these villages.”

             _‘Shit… is he asking me to **help**  him?’_ “Umm, sure.”

            “We will kill the carrion-eaters as we go and rout them from these lands.”

             _‘He **is**  asking me to help him! What the Hell? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?’_

            “Keh! No arguments there!”

            Sesshoumaru cast him a glance with one golden eye that perhaps was not quite as cold and emotionless as it had been.

            “Let us go.”

            He hid his smirk and smug smile, and leaped forward. Sesshoumaru followed close at his heels as they set off to restore the Western Lands together.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

 

            “I’m gonna get you!” Kagome teased, laughing. :Run! Pup, run! Mother-female catch pup!:

            Yukio let out a squeal of delight and toddled away as fast as his little legs could carry him, which considering he was a hanyou, was pretty damn fast. Kagome gave chase and they ran around the shrine grounds, laughing and playing in the warm afternoon sunlight.

             _‘It’s a shame Inuyasha’s missing this,’_ she thought as she marveled once again at how quickly Yukio was developing.

            Two days ago he’d mastered the words ‘Jii-chan’ and ‘Baa-chan’ much to Jii-chan and Mama’s delight. He still called Souta ‘Outa’ because ‘S’ was still a problem for him, but she was sure he’d get it soon.

            Inuyasha had been gone for five days, and she was missing him terribly. Yukio missed him too and often asked where he was. She kept telling him that his Otou-san had gone away on a trip and would be back soon. She used the opportunity to teach him the days of the week and the basics of counting. On her calendar she had circled the tenth day, the day Inuyasha was supposed to come for them and they would go back through the well, and she made it a point to mark off each day with him every morning, going through the exercise of listing and counting off the days left. In this way, she had taught him how to count to ten.

_‘Inuyasha will be so proud when he hears Yukio recite his numbers. I know he wants me to teach him everything I can.’_

            Yukio tried to hide behind Goshinboku, but he kept giggling so his hiding spot was easily given away. Kagome played along anyway, making a show of looking for him.

            “Where is he? Where is Yukio?” :Where pup?: “Where’d he go. Oh no, I can’t find him!” :Where pup? Pup missing! Mother-female find pup!:

            She popped up behind him and pounced on him. “Found you!” :Caught!:

            Yukio yelped then started laughing. “Okaa!”

            Rolling him on his back, she rubbed him and blew raspberries on his belly as he giggled and squirmed.

            “Got you! Got you!” :Mother-female found pup!:

            “Okaa!” :Mother-female! Pup good! Pup good!:

            She snickered and rubbed her nose into his chest. “My little big dog.” :Good pup!:

            Then she picked him up, held him high over her head and spun him around. He put out his arms and his sounds of glee could be heard clear across the shrine grounds. Bringing him close to her chest, she adjusted his hat because it had become a little loose when she had spun him, and she didn’t want it falling off. Even though the shrine was closed for the day, she didn’t want to take any chance that someone might come by and see Yukio’s puppy ears. As a result, he always wore a hat whenever he was outside of the house, no matter where they were going or what they were doing.

            “Otou,” Yukio burbled, nuzzling her under her chin. :Leader-male gone.: Then he held up one hand and silently folded each finger down like they had done that morning.

            “One. Two. Three. Four. Five,” she counted off. “Five days before Otou comes home.” :Good pup!:

            He put his head on her shoulder and she swayed back and forth, rocking him and cooing as she planted little kisses on his forehead. “Love you, baby.” :Mother-female loves pup. Mother-female loves pup very much. Good pup.:

            “Higurashi?”

            Kagome froze at the voice.

_‘Houjou?’_

            Slowly she turned around to see the young man standing there, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Her surprise soon turned to irritation, but not at the boy.

_‘Eri… Yuka… I’m going to kill you.’_

            The previous day she and Ayumi had stopped at WacDonald’s on the way home from school and they had run into their old friends from junior high. Kagome hadn’t seen them since her 17th birthday party and they were eager to catch up with her. The girls had asked about Inuyasha and she had answered carefully, making sure to leave out anything about Yukio because she didn’t want them to know about him. Not that they couldn’t be trusted, but well… they couldn’t be trusted. Houjou showing up at the shrine carrying flowers was glaring proof of that.

             _‘I wish you two would just give it up! I’m not interested in Houjou. I love Inuyasha!’_

            “Houjou-kun!” she stammered.

            “Higurashi, why are you barking at that child?”

_‘Barking? Oh… the inu-youkai…’_

            “Barking? Oh that. Ummm… it’s just a game we play,” she stuttered, hoping the years since junior high hadn’t dulled any of his naiveté.

            Yukio sniffed, turning golden eyes towards the boy. :New male. Not pack,: he said, and clung to his mother worriedly. Strange males were never good; especially when Otou wasn’t around. “Okaa?”

_‘Damn.’_

            “Okaa?” Houjou repeated. “Higurashi, is this baby… yours?”

            She drew herself up, one hand on Yukio’s back and met Houjou’s questioning gaze.

            “Yes.”  _‘It’s too much to explain and he doesn’t need to know. It’s none of his business anyway and maybe he’ll finally give up on me.’_

            Houjou flinched at her plain answer. “Does… does the  ** _school_**  know?”

            She shot him an irritated glare. “Being that I’m still  ** _in_**  school, the answer to that would be no.”

            The boy looked away, his eyes falling to the flowers that hung limply at his side.

            “Is this why you went to live at your aunt’s?”

            She blinked. “Oh, no. No. I’ve been living in Sendai since I graduated from Junior High. Yukio’s only ten months old.”

            “Yukio… Ten months. You’ve been keeping him a secret for ten months?”

            “It’s easy when I’m not here 90% of the time and only go in to school every two weeks and to take exams,” she said with a shrug.

            “And… and who is the father?”

            “A boy I’ve been seeing since Junior High.”

            Houjou’s eyes opened wide. “Since Junior High?”

            She nodded, feeling sympathy for him because he was looking crushed. “I’m sorry Houjou-kun. I tried to tell you…”

            “Is he going to do right by you?” he asked suddenly.

            ‘ _Huh?_ ’ “You mean is he going to marry me? I… I think so. Eventually.”  _‘If he doesn’t get sucked into Hell by his undead ex-girlfriend… who has been suspiciously absent these last eight months.’_

            “Eventually?”

            She nodded. “After I graduate High School and turn eighteen. Then I think we’ll get married.”

            “Where is he now?”

            “Far away. He had to go away on a trip.”

            “Away on a trip? Kagome, is he much older than you?”

             _‘Ummm, how should I answer that?’_  “No. Not that much older. He’s eighteen.”  _‘Or the equivalent in hanyou years. Funny how they grow fast as babies but then they reach a point where everything slows down.’_

            Inuyasha explained that hanyou and youkai offspring grew fast to get out of the helpless stage quickly. Once they weren’t so vulnerable, however, their development slowed down. He predicted that Yukio would grow like a weed for the first two or three years, then they would see a gradual slowdown. And of course, as she loved to tease him, hanyous might grow fast but they matured very, very slowly.

            Houjou nodded at her answer.

            “Do you love him?” he questioned.

            “Yes,” she replied without hesitation. ‘ _More than breath, more than life.’_

            The sadness in his eyes increased, but then she saw him shake his head slightly and muster a soft smile. “I’m glad. I want you to be happy, Higurashi.”

             _‘Oh Houjou. You’re a good man. If I hadn’t fallen in love with Inuyasha, I would have been happy to be your girlfriend.’_ “Thank you, Houjou-kun.”

            He smiled a little wider and offered her the flowers. “These are for you.”

            She bowed slightly and accepted the flowers with her free hand, showing them to Yukio.

            “See the pretty flowers, Yukio?”

            Yukio sniffed the flowers then grabbed one, ripped it off its stem and ate it.

            “Yukio!”

            “Pleh!” the baby sputtered, spitting out the foul tasting flower. :Not food,: he complained.

            Kagome started laughing, and Yukio gave her an irritated glare as if to say, ‘What are you laughing at?’ He looked so much like his father in that moment that she just laughed harder. She heard Houjou chuckling too.

            “He is very cute, Higurashi,” the boy said, coming closer to get a good look at him.

            Yukio started warning him off with a little growl so Kagome bounced him and gave him a shush.

            “Hush, baby. It’s okay.”

            Yukio stopped growling, but he kept up his little ‘stay away from my mother’ glare.

_‘Damn, he does become more and more like Inuyasha every day. I think he’d be proud to know Yukio was growling at Houjou. He’d probably tell him: Good job defending our territory, pup. Next I’ll teach you how to pee on a tree.’_

            Houjou was looking at the baby with wary, suspicious eyes. “Does he take much after his father, Higurashi?”

_‘You have no idea.’_

            “Yes, he looks just like him.”

            “His hair is… unusual.”

_‘His hair? Houjou, his hair is the only thing about him that might be considered normal.’_

            She nodded. “Yes, but I love it. I think it’s beautiful. His gold eyes too.”

            She could see Houjou trying to be diplomatic, his face concerned and serious. “Yes. His eyes are… different.”

            She smiled, hoping it would distract him from any more questions. “He’s a very special baby.”

            “I can tell.”

            Houjou lifted one hand to touch Yukio and the growl was back.

            “He’s mimicking my aunt’s dogs,” she tried to explain, flushing with embarrassment, then she turned to Yukio and said sharply, :Quiet. Bad pup!:

            Yukio immediately groveled and whimpered, stuffing his fist into his mouth and shrinking against her shoulder. :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Not-pack male. Pup scared.:

            :Pup safe.:

            Turning her attention to the confused young man, she gave him a sheepish smile and a shrug. “Sometimes I’m convinced he thinks he’s a dog.”

            Houjou gave a nervous laugh.

_‘Okay, how can I get rid of him because this is getting awkward?’_

            “Would you like to come in for some tea?”

_‘There. Now because I’m not available, he **should**  say no…’_

            “Thank you, Higurashi, but I need to go. Another time maybe, when your baby’s father is visiting with you. I would like to meet him sometime.”

_‘Oh yeah, and have him get jealous and go all alpha male on you. No thanks.’_

            She gave a strained giggle. “That might be nice, Houjou-kun.”

            “I’ll have to meet the guy who beat me and warn him never to mistreat you.”

            “Ahh… that’s very noble of you, Houjou-kun.”  _‘Misguided and potentially life-threatening, but noble.’_

            Just then, her mother returned from running errands and called out to her.

            “Kagome!”

_‘Saved by Mama.’_

            “Okaeri nasai, Mama,” she greeted as her mother crossed the shrine grounds. She was pushing a brand new 3-wheeled baby stroller.

_‘Oh no. Mama, what did you buy now?’_

            “Oh, hello Houjou. Did you come to see Kagome?” Mama asked politely.

            Houjou bowed deeply. “Good afternoon Higurashi-san.”

            Yukio, recognizing his grandmother, burbled a happy greeting and reached for her.

            “Baa-chan!” he said, using his new word.

            Mama smiled widely and took his little hand. “How is my favorite grandson?”

            He gurgled happily, chattering more greetings in inu-youkai that only Kagome understood. :Mother-female mother. Pack-female. Home to den. Back safe. Good!:

            Mama dug in her pocket and both Kagome and Yukio knew what was coming. Kagome rolled her eyes but Yukio squealed in excitement.

_‘Sheesh, he knows who spoils him more than Inuyasha and I do…’_

            “Were you a good boy?” Mama asked him.

            “Hai! Goo bai,” he replied dutifully. He didn’t really know what he was saying yet, but he’d memorized the correct response that earned him the goodie.

            “Good boys get sweets,” Mama said, handing him a small piece of soft candy. Yukio seized it with both hands and stuffed it in his mouth.

            “Will you come inside and join us for lunch?” the older woman asked Houjou.

            Houjou bowed again. “Thank you, but I must be going.”

            He turned to her and bowed. She bowed back.

            “It was good to see you, Higurashi. I’m glad that you are doing well.”

            “It was good to see you, too, Houjou-kun.”

            “Well, I’ll be seeing you,” he said with a wave as he moved to leave.

            “Houjou-kun,” she called, making him stop. “I know Yuka and Eri were the ones who told you I was here. They don’t know about Yukio. Please don’t tell them.”

            Houjou’s face softened and he nodded. “I would never do anything that would hurt you, Higurashi. I will keep your secret safe.”

            “Thank you, Houjou-kun.”

            “Take care, Higurashi.”

            “You too.”

            She watched him go then turned to her mother.

            “He was always such a nice boy,” Mama commented with a wistful sigh.

             _‘And you would have preferred me with him. Yes, I know. Houjou would have made a much nicer son-in-law than the rude, violent, selfish and irritating hanyou I chose.’_

            “He’d always bring you get well gifts when you weren’t in school and come by to visit.”

            “I know,” she replied.

            “But he’s awfully boring compared to Inuyasha, ne?”

            “Mama!” she blurted, shocked.

            Mama smiled a knowing smile and pushed the stroller, which was filled with her shopping bags, towards the house. Kagome joined her.

            “Well, he is. After all the excitement of that other world, a normal boy like Houjou would seem so…”

            “Tame,” she finished.

            “I was going to say ordinary, but tame works too, and considering who you did choose, it’s probably more appropriate.”

            She giggled. “Inuyasha is anything but tame.”

            “And you wouldn’t want him any other way.”

            She took a moment to superimpose Inuyasha on Houjou, imagining the hanyou giving her flowers and health sandals.

             _“Here’s some sandals. Wear them so you’ll stop complaining about how your feet hurt, wench.”_

            She snickered and shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t. Now show me what you bought now, Mama. A stroller? Why do I need a stroller?”

            They entered the genkan and took off their shoes.

            “Yukio’s getting so big. Soon he’ll be too heavy to carry. I thought a stroller might help.”

            She looked at the stroller. It was a very nice ‘sport’ model: low to the ground, with a folding hood, and bicycle-like wheels.

            “Oh Mama, it’s very nice. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of use out of it while I’m here.”

_‘Because I just looovvvvveeee taking my hanyou baby out for strolls around Tokyo .’_

            Mama smiled. “But you can’t use it over there?”

            She shook her head. “Not really,” she admitted. “When he gets too heavy, Inuyasha will carry him.”

            Mama shrugged. “You’ll use it here then.”

            They left the stroller in the genkan and entered the house.

            “Shall I make some lunch?”

            “I’ll help. We can make miso and ramen.”

            “Ah-men!” Yukio repeated, recognizing the word.

            Mama giggled. “I know he’s not Inuyasha’s, but he becomes more like his father every day.”

            Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t I know it.”

 

********

 

            Ten days passed and Inuyasha did not come through the well to get her. It bothered her a little bit because Inuyasha was nothing if not punctual, but she dismissed her worry because she knew the Western Lands were some 1000 km from Kaede’s village and super-hanyou speed or not, it was still a very long way to go.

            Twelve days passed. No Inuyasha. She started to get a little nervous, but resolved herself to wait. Although she missed him desperately and longed to see him again. It was the most time they had spent apart in over two years.

            Fourteen days passed. Still no Inuyasha. Yukio was beside himself because he didn’t understand where Otou was if the day he was supposed to return had come and gone, and she wasn’t much better.

            Sixteen days and she’d had enough. She caved into her growing worry and went through the well.

            Heaving herself over the side of the well, Yukio in his carrier on her back, she returned to the Sengoku Jidai and landed in the clearing. She scouted around but there was no sign of Inuyasha and a sick feeling started to grow in the pit of her stomach.

_‘He’s not here...’_

            “Kagome!” came a familiar voice and she turned to see Shippou coming towards her.

            “Ip-po,” Yukio said from his perch on her back.

_‘Shippou… not Inuyasha, was waiting for me. That means… Oh no. No…’_

            Her legs gave out as a crushing grief hit her and she fell to her knees.

_‘Inuyasha is…’_

            “He’s okay!” was the first thing the kitsune kit said as he jumped into her lap.

            The words filtered through her numb mind.  _‘He’s alright. Oh thank God.’_

            “He’s okay,” Shippou repeated. “Jaken arrived a few days ago. He said Inuyasha was with Sesshomaru and they would be here as soon as they were finished in the Western Lands.”

            She blinked.  _‘Inuyasha? With Sesshoumaru? What the hell?’_  “Inuyasha’s with Sesshoumaru?”

            Shippou nodded. “We couldn’t believe it either, but from what Jaken says the Western Lands were badly damaged and both of them are working to fix them. They’re running out of time with Winter coming. A lot of people will starve if they can’t grow enough food before the harvest season ends.”

            She stood and Shippou hopped onto her shoulder to greet Yukio.

            “Hi Yukio!”

            “Ip-po.” :Pack-brother.: “Otou?” :Pack-leader?:

            “Inuyasha’s not back yet, Yukio. Soon though.”

            “Ooon?”

            “Is Jaken still here, Shippou?” she asked.  _‘I’ll get the toad to tell me what is going on.’_

            “Yeah. He’s in the village with Rin and that two-headed dragon-youkai.”

            She nodded and began walking towards the village. “Okay.”

            In his carrier, she heard Yukio start to count.

            “Chee, nee, an, hee, go, oko, hichee, hachee, koo, joo. Joo day. Otou, joo day.”

            “Wow! Yukio can count to ten!” Shippou enthused.

            “Mmm-hmmm. He learned while we were back in my time. We’d count every day and he memorized the numbers.”

            “He’s so smart. You can really tell he’s not Inuyasha’s son.”

            “Don’t say that, Shippou,” she scolded gently. “Inuyasha’s not stupid. In fact, he’s very smart. Hiding how smart he is is part of the mask he wears to protect himself, but never forget his mother was a noblewoman and she educated him. He can read and he writes beautifully, better than me.”

            “If that’s true, then why does he let people think he isn’t, and why does he play dumb?”

            Inuyasha had only hinted at his reasons, but it was enough for her to guess.

            “Because no one expects a hanyou to be anything more than a dumb animal. After a while it was just easier to let people think he was simple-minded. Not only was it no use in trying to explain to people who weren’t willing to listen, it gave him an advantage because no one expected him to be able to figure things out,” she explained.

            “Oh.”

            “Inuyasha’s deep, Shippou. He’s very deep. What you see is only what he lets you see, but I can tell you that he can speak very formally and well when he has to, he’s very intuitive and observant, and he’s very, very sensitive. From what I have learned from Sesshoumaru and Toutousai, Inuyasha is very much his father’s son.”

            Shippou didn’t comment and she felt that she had said too much so she fell quiet as she continued on her way to the village. She found Kaede weeding in her garden.

            “Kaede-obachan,” she greeted.

            “Ah, Kagome. You’re back,” the old miko said.

            “Yes. I was worried about Inuyasha so I came to see why he hasn’t come for me.”

            “The child and her youkai companions are with the houshi and his wife.”

            Kagome nodded. “Thank you.”

            “Kagome-sama!” Rin exclaimed as she approached the hut. The little girl was sitting outside the hut with Jaken and Ah-Un beside her. Kohaku sat nearby, sharpening the blade of his scythe and chain.

            “I’m back,” she said, taking the child’s offered hands as Rin ran to meet her.

            “Jaken-sama is here with Ah-Un! He says Sesshoumaru-sama will come for Rin soon.”

            “That is very good news.”

            Rin jumped up a bit to see Yukio and Shippou. “Shippo-chan. Yukio-chan.”

            Yukio burbled at her and smiled as Shippou hurried a greeting, jumped down and headed into the hut to tell Miroku and Sango that Kagome was back. Kagome knelt down and removed the carrier, freeing Yukio from its confines and placing him on the ground. Rin immediately scooped him up and cuddled him. Yukio didn’t mind because she’d been doing it for the better part of two months.

            “Yukio-chan is so cute!!” the girl enthused. “He’s a little Inuyasha-sama!”

            Jaken sputtered and rattled his Staff of Heads. “So that is the hanyou whelp.”

            Kagome gave him a glare at his condescending tone of voice and it was enough to make the little toad visibly sweat.

            “Be careful what you say about my son, especially when Inuyasha is around. Speaking of which, what happened in the Western Lands?”

            Still sweating, Jaken spun her a tale of war, betrayal, and bloodshed. She flinched when he told her of Tenseiga’s rejection. She knew the only person the proud Sesshoumaru had any respect for was his father. Being rejected by his father’s fang must have been a terrible blow for him, although the inu-youkai’s extreme reaction did surprise her. Sesshoumaru did not strike her as the type who would suffer from depression, but she didn’t doubt Jaken’s story of his murderous rage and subsequent withdrawl into himself. The most shocking part, however, and the part that made her heart swell with pride and love for her hanyou, was Inuyasha’s wielding of Tenseiga and his reviving of Ah-Un. The fact that the great sword of healing accepted Inuyasha’s hand for even a short time told her that Tenseiga saw Inuyasha as an equal to his full inu-youkai brother.

            “So Sesshoumaru actually asked Inuyasha for help?” she questioned in disbelief.

            Jaken snorted. “Sesshoumaru-sama did not need the hanyou’s help. It was merely more expedient for Inuyasha to show him where the damage had been done.”

            “Right,” she replied dryly.  _‘Well, it isn’t like he hasn’t asked Inuyasha for help before. The reason he found out Inuyasha had been sealed was because he sent Jaken to ask if he’d fight the neko-youkai with him. And they have worked together in the past in a kind of ‘common enemy now, I’ll kill you later’ way. And Sesshoumaru does care about Inuyasha. I know he does. He came to stop Inuyasha from running rampant that time he transformed into a full youkai and started killing. I know he said he didn’t kill Inuyasha because killing him when he didn’t even know who he was wasn’t a victory, but I don’t believe him.’_

            During their talk, Rin had set Yukio down and he’d toddled over to Ah-Un. The two-headed dragon-like beast had lowered its heads down to examine the child and Yukio, in his typical innocent fearlessness, had grabbed hold of the bridle. Surprised, Ah-Un jerked its heads up, pulling Yukio with it because he didn’t let go. Yukio let out a delighted laugh as he was flung around. His mother, of course, was terrified.

            “Yukio!” she screamed, leaping to her feet and grabbing for her son.

            Ah-Un, now even more upset by the strange human rushing at him, rolled back its eyes and reared up.

            “Let go of my baby!” Kagome cried.

            “Ah-Un! Bad Ah-Un! Put Yukio down,” Rin scolded.

            “Kagome-chan!” “Kagome-sama!” Sango and Miroku exclaimed as they came running out of their hut in response to her distressed cry.

            “It’s got Yukio!”

            They turned to see the child dangling from the reins as the dragon-youkai backed up against the hut wall.

            “Don’t corner it!” Sango warned. “Remember it can fly. If it spooks and takes off, it could drop the baby!”

            Kirara dashed out of the hut and transformed, growling a challenge, which only served to make matters worse. Thankfully, the beast’s bridle prevented it from breathing fire and setting everything around it ablaze, but that was a small consolation. Yukio, heedless of the mortal danger he was in, continued to laugh and swing from the reins.

            “Pony,” he burbled.

            “Yukio, sweetheart, that’s not a pony!” Kagome yelled. “Let go of the reins, baby. Let go!”

            Ah-Un swung around, looking for a way out and Yukio swung with him, nearly smashing into the side of the hut. Kagome almost fainted right there.

            “Wheeeeeee!” the toddler said, giggling.

             _‘He thinks it’s a game. Like when Inuyasha and I swing him around. He doesn’t realize that beast’s not playing!_ ’ she thought frantically.           

            “Oi! What are you doing with my son?” a very irritated voice said behind her.

_‘Inuyasha?!’_

            She whirled and there he was, looking exhausted and disheveled but perfect.    

            “Inuyasha!” she cried in both greeting and relief.

            He gave her a short nod, but concentrated his attention on the threat to Yukio. He drew Tessaiga and balanced it on his shoulder.

            “Hey you! Put my pup down.”

            The ranks of defenders split down the middle to allow the adult hanyou through, but before anything else could happen Sesshoumaru appeared beside the beast as a flying ball of light. He materialized, grabbed the beast’s bridle without so much as a flinch, plucked the toddler from the reins and tossed him towards his father, all without ever changing his neutral expression or batting an eye. Kagome, seeing her baby flying through the air, screamed, but Inuyasha shoved Tessaiga into the ground tip first and snatched Yukio in mid-flight.

            “Wheeeee! OTOU!”

            “Hey pup,” Inuyasha greeted, catching him and holding him close.

            “Otou! Otou! Otou!” Yukio chattered excitedly, completely oblivious that he could have just been killed. :Leader-male! Leader-male! Back safe! Leader-male!:

            Kagome, her legs weak with relief, ran over and threw her arms around them both.

            “Inuyasha!”

            He turned his head to look at her, his eyes full of love and joy. “Hi. I’m back.”

            For a moment, she was speechless, then she kissed him. He jerked under her touch, then she felt him relax and put an arm around her. His hand on the small of her back pulled her tight against his body and she felt the tremors that ran through him.

            “I missed you,” she breathed when the kiss finally ended.

            His eyes were swirling with need and happiness. “I missed you too. So much.”

            A wave of lust hit her and she gripped his haori, fighting herself so she didn’t throw him to the ground right then and there. He smelled it too, because his eyes widened and flashed with momentary surprise before answering in kind.

            “Kagome…” he growled softly under his breath.

            “This public display disgusts me,” Sesshoumaru’s condescending voice said, breaking the spell they’d cast on each other.

            “Oi. You’re just pissed because you haven’t gotten any in over two centuries,” Inuyasha spat back. “Isn’t it high time you found a mate and started popping out a few pups of your own?”

            There was stunned silence and everyone braced for the explosion and subsequent battle to the death. It never came.

            “Rin,” Sesshoumaru called, stretching out his hand.

            The little girl, overjoyed at seeing her benefactor again, ran to him and grabbed it.

            “Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin is so happy to see you! She missed you so much!”

            If anyone thought it was odd that the inu-youkai didn’t shrug off the child’s touch or pull his hand away, no one said, mostly because they were still stunned by Sesshoumaru’s lack of response to the obvious insult. He picked her up and placed her on Ah-Un, then walked away without another word. Rin waved as Ah-Un followed its master, Jaken hurrying beside it.

            “Good-bye! Rin thanks you for taking care of her. She’ll be back!”

            Sesshoumaru took to the air without so much as a backward glance.

            “Sesshoumaru-sama! Wait for us!” Jaken cried, hopping up and down.

            Rin bent down and offered her hand to the toad-youkai. “Come on, Jaken-sama.”

            Jaken took the offered hand and hopped up onto the two-headed beast. Rin waved a final time as Ah-Un flew after the fading figure in the sky.

            “Bye!”

            “Keh. Still an arrogant asshole,” Inuyasha huffed.

            “Inuyasha…” she warned.

            He gave her a frightened glance. “Don’t sit me! I’ve got the pup!”

            Miroku, coming out of his shock, shook his head and tsk-ed. “Still the same as always, I see. It is good you are back, Inuyasha. You were sorely missed.”

            The others gathered around them, Kirara transforming back into her kitten form and hopping onto Miroku’s shoulder. From inside the hut, Miyoko’s cry reached her mother and Shippou called from within.

            “Excuse me,” Sango said and hurried to answer her daughter’s wail.

            Shippou came running out a moment later.

            “Inuyasha!” the kit cried, leaping up to his shoulder.

            “Oi, Shippou.”

            “What happened?” he asked.

            “Sesshoumaru’s two-headed dragonet had Yukio.”

            The kitsune kit gasped.

            “Actually, I think it was the other way around,” Sango commented, coming out of the hut carrying Miyoko.

            “How’d that happen?” Inuyasha asked, looking at Kagome.

            Kagome blushed. “I was talking with Jaken and Rin was supposed to be watching him, but somehow he toddled over to that beast and just grabbed its reins when no one was looking.”

            He looked at Yukio who was still beaming at him.

_‘He knows and adores his father so much.’_

            “Oi, pup, you need to learn not to wander away from your keepers.”

            “Otou.” :Leader-male. Pup happy leader-male back safe.:

            He nuzzled his son. :Leader-male happy to be back with pack.: Then he turned heated eyes her way and pulled her close again. :Leader-male  ** _very_**  happy to be back with pack,: he said in inu-youkai, knowing she would understand him.

            She answered by lifting her head just slightly to bare her throat, a sign of obvious submission, and she saw his nostrils flare and his eyes dilate as they focused on the pulse point of her neck. A low growl escaped his lips and her knees went weak.

             _‘Oh god… what he does to me. One look and I’m a puddle of goo. A horny puddle of goo…’_

            “You must tell us all about what you found in the Western Lands, Inuyasha,” Miroku interrupted.

_‘Now? We haven’t seen each other for 16 days. Can’t this wait?’_

            “Feh. Not much to tell. Fields destroyed, people starving, carrion-eaters running rampant, my idiot brother staring at the tides while his lands fall apart…”

            “It is true that you wielded Tenseiga?” the monk asked.

            She felt Inuyasha puff up with pride and knew her hopes of a quick romantic tryst were just trampled by her hanyou’s ego.

            “Yeah. It’s true. My stupid brother threw it away. I still can’t believe that. He used it to torture his Lord Marshal then got upset when it rejected him.”

            “Jaken told us you used Tensiega to revive Ah-Un,” Sango noted.

            He nodded. “That blade is incredible. It revived corpses that were weeks dead.”

            “Amazing,” Miroku breathed. “Such power, and in the hands of someone who seems so cold-hearted.”

            Inuyasha had no answer, but Kagome saw something come into his eyes.

_‘Hmmm, I wonder what he saw in his brother all those days they were together.’_

            “Inuyasha, you have returned,” Kaede’s voice said behind them.

            Releasing her, Inuyasha turned to face the old miko, picking up Tessaiga in the process and sheathing it.

            “Oi, Kaede-baba.”

            The old woman regarded him seriously for several seconds. “Hmmmmm. You look hungry. I’ll make lunch.”

            Kagome heard his stomach grumble in answer to the idea of food, and his face fell a little.

            “Yeah,” he replied, putting one hand on his rumbling belly. “Didn’t get a chance to eat much. Sesshoumaru’s a bastard and he didn’t want to stop to rest or eat.”

            “Sounds like someone else we know,” Miroku commented to his wife.

            The taijiya nodded. “Must run in the family.”

            “Oi!” Inuyasha growled, glaring at them, but they just smiled and looked innocent.

            “Come this way, Inuyasha,” Kaede beckoned.

            “I have some stew I started this morning,” Sango offered. “I can bring it and we can all eat together so Inuyasha can tell us about his adventures.”

            “Hai, hai, an excellent idea,” Miroku argreed. “I’ll get it for you.”

            Lunch turned into a welcome back feast, with numerous villagers bringing food and coming to herald the village protector’s triumphant return. Kagome sat next to him, listening to him speak of his time in the Western Lands, both before and after he found Sesshoumaru, and tried to be patient. She knew that the others were happy to have him back, just as she was, but she longed to get him alone. His close proximity was driving her crazy because he was unwashed and smelled of honest sweat; a scent she always found very arousing. To make matters worse, he kept brushing up against her and her body, already tingling from his nearness, went into overdrive every time they touched. She kept her hands neatly in her lap when she wasn’t eating or holding Yukio, and prayed that lunch would end soon.

            “And is the body of Manshirou still displayed by the castle gates?” Miroku asked.

            She looked up and saw a twinkle in the houshi’s eyes.

             _‘He’s doing it on purpose,’_  she realized suddenly.  _‘It’s payback for embarrassing him with that book…’_

            Inuyasha shoved a dumpling into his mouth and shook his head. “No. I convinced him to take the damn thing down. None of his remaining seneschals would come back with it still up there, and he could just forget any of the courtiers. They were scared to death of him.”

            “As well they should be. Sesshoumaru is a powerful inu-youkai. Manshirou was a fool to conspire with Naraku and then try to overthrow Sesshoumaru himself,” Miroku said.

            “Well, he’s a dead fool now, so Sesshoumaru showed him.”

            “Tell us again what you said to him when he said Tenseiga had chosen a new master,” Shippou enthused.

            “Heh, I said it only accepted me because it wanted me to go in there and kick his stupid a… errr butt,” he answered, casting Kagome a worried glance.

            “Oh to have been a fly on the wall for that,” Sango commented, snickering.

            “Heh,” Inuyasha chuckled, and finished off his rice.

            Kagome looked at his place setting and took in all the empty bowls and plates. The hanyou had consumed an ungodly amount of food in a very short time.

            ‘ _He must have really been starving. Well, he did say that he gave all his ramen to those hungry village children.’_  She could just see him doing that, picturing the haunted faces fill up with hope as he handed them the only food he had so that they would have something to eat.  _‘He gave them his last cup of ramen. This is why I adore this man.’_

            He looked at her and caught her staring at him with adoration. He blushed and ducked his head, then peered back up at her through his bangs. Now that his belly was full, she could sense his attention turning towards satisfying… other needs. Why she was the only one who noticed this, she wasn’t sure. Or maybe the others did notice it, but chose to ignore it. Whatever the reason, the longer they drew out the conversation, the more Inuyasha began to fidget, and the more Inuyasha began to fidget, the greater the chance he would lose his temper.

            It was glaringly obvious that he was growing more and more impatient and annoyed. His answers were becoming shorter, his voice a little harder. Even Yukio noticed that his father was less than happy, and ducked his head down under her arm to avoid scrutiny.

            :Pup bad?:

            She shook her head and patted him. :Pup good. Leader-male tired from trip. Leader-male needs sleep.:

            :Go to den?:

            :Soon.:

            Finally, after several more questions and nervous looks, Kaede intervened and called an end to the meal.

            “Inuyasha has come a long way and he is very tired. We should give him time with his family and allow him to rest.”

            “Thank you, Kaede-obachan,” she whispered as the group began to disperse.

            “Old I may be, but blind I am not. The monk was playing with dangerous fire.”

            She nodded vigorously, and turned just in time to see Inuyasha handing Yukio to Miroku and heard her son’s loud protest.

            “Here, watch the pup for us.”

            “Ah…” the houshi stammered.

            “Otou!” Yukio cried, reaching for his father only to wilt and sniffle when Inuyasha barked a very clear, :Pup stay with pack-male.:

            Already learning how to play them off each other, the toddler turned pleading eyes her way. “Okaa!” :Mother-female!:

            She kissed him but refused to take him from Miroku’s arms.

            :Do as leader-male says.:

            Big fat tears welled up in Yukio’s eyes and spilled over. “No!”

            Inuyasha growled at him, low and angry. :Obey leader-male.:

            “Otou…” he tried again, plaintively.

            Inuyasha softened for a moment and rubbed his son’s ears. :Pup safe. Pup still pack. Leader-male and mother-female have time alone. Pup is  ** _not_**  being left behind.:

_‘Oh, He was afraid he was being cast out of the pack…’_

            The reassurance only placated him a little bit.

            “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Okaa will come get you before dinner,” she promised, ignoring Inuyasha’s indignant snort. :Mother-female loves pup. Pup still pack. Mother-female will come for pup. Pup be good. Pup stay with pack-male.:

            “Go ahead and take him,” she told Miroku.

            The monk nodded, casting her a knowing glance that made her blush, and carried Yukio off as he and Sango went back to their hut. Once they were gone, Inuyasha nipped at her neck and licked her ear.

            “Run,” he whispered huskily.

            “Huh?”

            “Run. Run for the den. I’ll give chase and catch you. I’ll even be good and give you a head start.”

             _‘Oh…’_  She had no illusions as to what would happen when he ‘caught’ her, and a rush of heat flooded her body. Inuyasha’s nostrils flared and he inhaled deeply, his eyes dilating.

            “Run,” he ordered hoarsely, a hint of desperation in his voice.

            She ran.

            She made it to Goshinboku before he tackled her from behind, and she almost hit the ground face first but at the last moment he cushioned her with his body. Hungry lips found hungry lips and they rolled in the leaves by the huge roots of the ancient tree. Whatever he was hoping for, she knew he was shocked when he found himself straddled and pinned to the forest floor. Surprised by her own aggression, but too thrilled by the rush of power to care, she slammed him down by his shoulders and ravaged his mouth, her fingers clawing at his clothing to reach bare flesh. Her need was raging out of control, and if he was feeling even a fraction of the desire she was, she knew their coupling would be frantic and brief. She didn’t care about that either. She needed him  ** _now_**.

            She pulled open his hakama, freeing him from the confines of the red cloth as he ripped off her panties. With one swift movement she took him, feeling him arch his back and grab her hips to pull her further down onto him as they struggled in the throes of passion. She screamed his name and he howled hers as they reached their peaks together, then they trembled as one, her legs still gripping his hips as they rode out the aftershocks.

            The whole thing lasted five minutes, if that. Actually, probably only three.

            Gasping for breath, Inuyasha threw out his arms and went limp underneath her.

            “Shit, woman, and I thought I was the sex fiend, but  ** _you_**  just ravished  ** _me_** ,” he panted, smiling, his eyes sparkling.

            She giggled, rubbing his chest. “I’m sorry. I see you and I lose complete control over myself.”

            He chuckled. “You have my full permission to lose control of yourself any time you want.”

            “I dunno. You might not be able to keep up with me,” she teased.

            “Oh, but the fun I’d have trying.”

            She gave a full laugh making him groan and close his eyes, and she knew she had about ten minutes before he was ready to go again. Disengaging herself, she kissed his nose and crouched beside him.

            “Give me another head start?”

            He blinked then gave her a wicked grin. “You’ve got until I can feel my legs again.”

            Snickering, she was off. She only hoped this time she’d actually make it to the den.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

           

            Miroku flipped open Kagome’s book and resumed studying the chapter on foreplay and manipulation of erogenous zones. He had to admit the book had proven to be most educational and useful, and had significantly improved intimate relations between him and Sango. It was obvious that the people in Kagome’s country were very advanced indeed if they had time to devote to the kind of study and research that went into writing such a book.

 _‘I wonder if they had to ask for volunteers,_ ’ he thought.

            He’d already read the book once through, including the ‘advanced chapters’ Kagome had said that not even she and Inuyasha had gotten to yet. He made it a point to read those closely to absorb the information. Not one to be outdone, he fully intended to reach the ‘advanced’ level before the hanyou and his lover did. He had a reputation as a hentai to uphold after all; although some of the things the book talked about were very strange and he knew he hadn’t a prayer in Hell of getting Sango to do even a fraction of them.

            There was a section on an organ in his body called a ‘prostate’ and it could be manipulated by going through his anus. The book said the practice, when done properly, was extremely arousing and pleasurable. Briefly he wondered if Inuyasha and Kagome had tried it out for themselves. He tried to picture such a thing in his mind, but- even with the book’s helpful illustrations- he couldn’t bring himself to imagine it.

_‘I wonder if the artist hired to do this work volunteered for the job. And were live models used…’_

            There were also two entire chapters devoted to toys and other ‘pleasure enhancement’ tools. Some of the items were slightly disconcerting, and he wondered what type of person would use such things in order to ‘increase their sexual enjoyment.’ A few of the things designed for men looked more painful than anything else, although there was one ‘toy’ for women with  ** _two_**  appendages that intrigued him. And of course, the section on anal beads made him wonder if he still had his old rosary somewhere.

            The black crow feather shimmered enticingly in the sunlight, reflecting rainbow colors off of its surface. The book had said a feather or soft brush could be used in the technique he planned to try, and the feather had appeared to him during one of his walks in the forest like a divine gift from Buddha Himself.

            ‘ _I think I’ll try this tonight,’_  he mused, reaching over to pick up the perfect primary wing feather next to him.

_‘It can never be said that I refused a sign from Providence .’_

            The sound of footsteps approaching made him hastily place the feather in the book to mark his place and close it, slipping it into the folds of his robes. Sango might be the direct benefactor of his new-found resource, but he wasn’t ready to reveal his secret quite yet. Besides, he knew if she saw some of the things in the book, she’d make him give it back to Kagome and he wasn’t finished with it. While Sango was definitely a woman before her time, there were some things about her that were still very traditional; her views on sex being one of them.

            Unhappily, he had to admit that he had had a hand in shaping that view because he had been her first. Reading Kagome’s book, he’d come to realize that he could have made his wife’s first experience much better than it had been, and he could only hope that he would be able to bring her around with his new talents. Still, he needed to ease her into things because she was shy in bed and often nervous.

             _‘It’s like she is afraid of her own sexuality, like she thinks she’s not supposed to enjoy it.’_

            Granted, since he had been tending more diligently to his ‘husbandly duties,’ getting her to perform her ‘wifely duties’ was becoming easier and easier, and he tried to employ something new on a regular basis. Last night he had licked and sucked at her feet and toes. It wasn’t something one would normally consider arousing, but put in the proper context and time, it worked like a charm. It was amazing how the simplest things could be used to give pleasure if employed in the right way. The book compared the human body to a fine instrument. When played correctly and with skill, it could make the most beautiful music, but skill took patience, time and practice… lots and lots of practice.

_‘I have discipline. I have no trouble practicing.’_

            Putting aside his hentai thoughts, he turned to see Sango, carrying Miyoko, coming around to the side of their home.

            “How is Kohaku?” he asked softly as she came to sit beside him outside the hut. He smiled at his baby girl who blinked at him with her dark eyes.

_‘Miyoko, my daughter, my beautiful little girl.’_

            Sango’s brow furrowed and she looked away. “He’s… resting. He won’t admit it, but I know he is going to miss Rin. I was very sad to see her go. She is the only one who can really make him smile.”

            He patted her hand reassuringly. “But he did smile. That means there is hope for him.”

            She looked at him and gave him a grateful smile. He smiled back, taking in her beauty and her strength. She was perfect in his eyes, even in her flaws.

_‘I do not think I can love this woman more.’_

            “Thank you,” she sighed, and leaned against him.

            They were quiet for several moments before Sango spoke again.

            “You were cruel to Inuyasha and Kagome today,” she teased.

            “I was?” he replied innocently.

            “You know you were. You knew they wanted to be alone, but you kept asking questions. You’re very lucky Inuyasha has matured as much as he has. A year ago if you’d done that, he’d have lost his temper and thumped you.”

            “Heh,” he chuckled. “True. Our Inuyasha has certainly changed since he and Kagome-sama adopted Yukio and became closer.”

            She nodded against his shoulder. “Speaking of Yukio. Where is he? Did you leave him with Kaede-sama?”

            Miroku froze, a cold shiver running up his spine. “What do you mean? Isn’t he in the hut? Didn’t you have him with you?”

            She sat up and looked at him, her eyes concerned. “No. I haven’t seen him since Inuyasha gave him to you at lunch and we returned here.”

            “But I asked you to watch him when I went to help Keiko carry her water.”

            “When did you ask me that?”

            “A while after lunch. Keiko was struggling with the water yoke, and Tamu wasn’t around to help her, so I offered to carry it for her. I put Yukio down and called to you to watch him.”

            She blanched and turned pale. “Miroku, I never heard you ask me to…” She trailed off, her eyes opening wide. “Oh no…”

            They both stood at the same time.

            “I’ll go to Kaede-sama’s,” he said.

            “I’ll leave Miyoko with Kohaku and get Kirara.”

            They split up, each going in separate directions.

            ‘ _Buddha, please. Let the child be with the miko,_ ’ he prayed as he ran to Kaede’s hut.

            “Kaede-sama!” he called, throwing aside the reed door as he hurried in.

            “Houshi-sama? What is wrong?” the miko asked.

            “Miroku? What’s happened?” Shippou, who was sitting with Kaede and helping her with the herbs, questioned.

            “Is Yukio not here with you?”

            Both of them shook their heads.

            “No. We thought the child was in your care.”

            “Yeah, Inuyasha gave him to you to take care of,” the kit replied. “You didn’t lose him, did you?”

            “Ahh…”  _‘This is bad. Very bad…’_

            Shippou’s eyes flew open wide. “You  ** _did_**  lose him! Oh no! Inuyasha is going to kill you!”

             _‘Don’t you think I know that? Right now I am more concerned that a ten-month old hanyou baby might be wandering around out there by himself!’_

            “Houshi-sama,” Sango said breathlessly as she entered the hut. “No one’s seen him. Is he not here?”

            “No,” he answered.

            “Oh no.”

            He turned to the fox kit. “Shippou can you track him?”

            The kitsune set his jaw and nodded. “I’ll try.”

            “Do you know how much of a head start he has on you? How long ago do you remember seeing him?” Kaede asked.

            “After we returned to our hut when lunch was over. I put him down to help Keiko carry a yoke of water because she’s 8 months pregnant and her useless husband won’t help her. Sango was in the hut and I called out to her to pick him up. When I returned from carrying the water, he wasn’t there so I assumed she had him.”

            “But I never heard him call me,” she explained, then turned to her husband. “Did I answer you when you told me to get him?”

            He shook his head. “Not specifically, no.”

            “Let’s go back to your hut, Miroku. I can try to pick up Yukio’s scent from there,” Shippou said.

            “Let me know if you find him. If you can’t catch his scent, you’ll have no choice but to fetch Inuyasha,” Kaede said.

            “Oh, Inuyasha isn’t going to like this!” Shippou fretted.

            “Let’s go quickly. With luck he won’t have gotten far,” he hoped, offering an arm for Shippou to hop into.

            The kitsune kit gave him an incredulous look. “He’s a hanyou pup. He could be half a ri away by now.”

            Miroku’s heart lodged in his throat. “Please don’t say that Shippou.”

            Shippou was able to track Yukio’s scent through the village. He lost it a couple of times, but eventually he did find the trail again. It was amazing how far the toddler had traveled, right past huts and gardens, with no one catching a glimpse of him. Miroku believed the villagers when they said they hadn’t seen the child. All of them knew Inuyasha’s son and were very interested in his well-being. Inuyasha was the village protector and he was worth a hundred samurai in a battle against youkai or bandits. They didn’t want anything to happen to him or his family, so he knew that if any one of them had seen the toddler they would have raised the alarm.

            Yukio had made his way through the village in almost a straight line. This was no wandering child off exploring. No, this was a kid with a mission, and it soon became apparent that he had a very specific goal in mind. Soon, they didn’t even need the scent trail to guess where he was going, but knowing where he was headed offered no comfort.

            Shippou stopped at the edge of the village, looking out into the woods known as Inuyasha’s Forest. Miroku stopped with him and they were then joined by Sango on Kirara. They all looked in the direction of the tree the hanyou had been sealed to and the Bone-Eaters Well.

            “He’s headed for the den,” Shippou said, voicing the conclusion they had all already come to.

            Miroku nodded gravely. The toddler might be a hanyou, and he might know where he was going, but there was a great deal of dangerous forest between the village and his destination, especially for an unprotected child.

            “Kirara...” Sango said, preparing to go after Yukio, but Miroku put up a hand.

            “No. It’s my responsibility. Inuyasha gave him to me and I was the one who lost him.”

            Sango gave him an incredulous look. “Does that really matter right now? He’s out there in the forest alone!”

            Miroku looked to the trees, his heart heavy and resolved.

            “He’s headed right for the den. It won’t be hard to follow him. It’s better that only I go. That way only I will face Inuyasha’s anger if he finds out I failed to watch his son.”

            “If you think I’m going to let you go looking for that lost baby by yourself, you’re out of your mind,” she countered.

            She didn’t wait for his answer before she urged Kirara forward and the fire cat took off. He shook his head and sighed.

            “You should have seen that coming. Sango’s a mom too. There’s no way she was going to let you search for Yukio alone,” Shippou said.

            “Let’s go then, and hope we catch him before he makes it to the den.”

            Shippou hopped up onto his shoulder and he set off at a run.

_‘I hope no new youkai have come hunting in the forest. I know Inuyasha killed a number of them before he left for the Western Lands, but he’s been gone for sixteen days and that’s enough time for more demons to move in.’_

            “I hope no youkai are in here,” Shippou commented as if he could read the monk’s mind.

            “I was just praying that there weren’t any.”

            He stopped once they were in the trees and Shippou got down to sniff for the scent trail.

            “This way,” he said, pointing towards Inuyasha’s tree.

            There was no doubt about it now. Yukio was definitely headed for the den.

_‘I sorely underestimated him. I thought since he was so young, there was no way he could wander off like this. I didn’t realize that hanyou babies were this mobile so quickly.’_

            They found a torn scrap of white cloth that looked vaguely familiar near Inuyasha’s tree. Shippou didn’t even have to go near it to recognize the scent, and the fox kit blushed.

            “Those are Kagome’s,” he whispered.

            It didn’t take much to figure out from the ripped cloth and the crushed grass what had happened there.

_‘Right out in the open. Inuyasha, you hentai.’_

            Shippou sniffed around and nodded. “He made it this far.”

             _‘Well, that’s a relief. But if he makes it all the way to the den, what will he be interrupting when he gets there? And will Inuyasha let me live long enough to explain?’_

“He went through here,” the fox said, indicating a deer path through the trees.

            He nodded and Shippou hopped up again as they headed off.

            “I can’t believe he made it this far,” he breathed in wonder.

            “You shouldn’t be surprised. I was only a year old when my Otou was killed and you know how I was. Hanyou pups don’t grow as fast as kitsune kits, but they’re still faster than human babies.”

            “Much faster,” he complained.

            They came to a clearing and Sango and Kirara landed beside them.

            “Any sign of him?” she asked.

            Miroku shook his head. “Shippou said he made it to Inuyasha’s tree.”

            Shippou jumped down and scouted for the trail while they talked.

            “Over this way,” he called and dashed off into the bushes.

            They followed, hoping to find the boy before he got them all into deeper trouble than they were already in.

            “Kami-sama I can’t believe he made it this far in such a short time!” Sango panted.

            “I was saying that earlier myself. Shippou said we shouldn’t be surprised.”

            “I never realized how different hanyou babies were from human ones. In my village, we never spent much time wondering about how the young were cared for and grew. We only concentrated on how to kill them.”

            He nodded gravely and said nothing in reply.

            They caught up to the toddler  ** _just_**  outside of the den. They arrived at the small hillside at the same time Yukio came crawling out from beneath some undergrowth. He was filthy and his clothes were a ragged mess, but he was unharmed. Miroku had only a moment to breathe a sigh of relief and say a prayer of thanks before Yukio made a dash for the den entrance.

            “Yukio!” Sango gasped, running towards him.

            The toddler startled and shied, feinting to the left faster than any of them expected. He obviously hadn’t known they were there and his protective instincts kicked in. Kirara snarled and grabbed for him, snatching him by his red shirt, but the shirt was his old ‘Big Dog’ top that had seen better days and the fabric ripped on her fangs. The child fell from her mouth and rolled, going under the firecat. He got to his feet and started running again.

            Miroku, who had sought to prevent Yukio from getting into the den, had run for the hillside, and was there when the toddler popped out from underneath Kirara. Reaching down, he grabbed the boy from behind before he could go through the camouflaged reed door.

            “Gotchya,” he said, picking him up, thankful that he did because the sounds coming from inside the den were definitely not ones he would want to have interrupted.

            Yukio, shocked and scared, twisted and snarled, then bit him and scratched at him with his little claws, carving deep wounds into his forearms. He gasped at the sudden unexpected pain and released the boy, dropping him practically into the den entrance.

            “Houshi-sama!” Sango called as he clutched his bleeding arm.

            “Otou! Okaa!” Yukio yelled as he barreled through the reed door and into the den.

            There was a moment of stunned silence then an enraged howl erupted from inside the underground shelter. It was answered by Yukio’s frightened scream.

            “Ummm, I think we’d better get out of here fast,” Shippou suggested.

            Sango, seeing the deep bite wound and gashes on his arms, took him by the elbow.

            “We need to wash those right away. Come over to the stream. Inuyasha will find us,” she said.

            He nodded, still a bit shocked by the extent of the damage such a little one could cause, and followed his wife to the stream that ran not far from the den entrance.

            “You shouldn’t have grabbed him like that. You frightened him and he protected himself instinctively,” she scolded softly, kneeling next to him and washing the gashes in the flowing cold water.

            “I know he didn’t mean to hurt me.”

            Sango cursed and shook her head, examining the bites. “These are deep.”

            “He doesn’t know his own strength,” Shippou offered, looking sad and pale.

             _‘What is he more upset about? Yukio for hurting me or Inuyasha’s reaction when he comes for us?’_

            “I know Shippou.”

            “Inuyasha is going to be furious,” the kit continued, shivering.

            He looked at his wife, who met his concerned gaze with one of her own, and her mouth tightened into a thin line.

            “It will be better because he wasn’t hurt. He may have interrupted their private time, but he got there safely,” he said.

            Her eyes told him that she wasn’t convinced.

            “In any case, there is nothing to be done for it. What is done is done and I will take responsibility for it.”

            She sighed and nodded. “We should have Kaede treat these as soon as possible.”

            “As soon as we’ve spoken with Inuyasha. I am sure he will be coming for us very soon.”

            Sango agreed and ministered to his wounds as much as she was able as they awaited the imminent arrival of the angry hanyou.

 

********

           

            Yukio screamed again and hid behind her, weeping and shaking. The shock was just wearing off and clarity was only just returning to her addled brain as she tried to grasp what had happened.

            She and Inuyasha had been in the middle of making love when the reed door had been ripped open and Yukio had come streaking in crying their names. Inuyasha, enraged at being interrupted and not fully aware of what was going on, had turned on the child with a feral snarl, scaring the liver out of her son. He’d screamed and dashed for her, narrowly avoiding a swipe Inuyasha made with his claws at what he perceived was an intruder, and tackled her, knocking her to the futon. Inuyasha finally came to his senses and when he realized what he’d almost done, he slammed his fists into the den floor repeatedly and struggled to get his body under control.

            Kagome felt torn between them, not sure whom she should comfort; Inuyasha was trembling with stymied need and shock at his attack on his own son, and Yukio was whimpering and crying behind her in abject terror.

            :Pup sorry, sorry, sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!:

            “Fuck!” Inuyasha cursed loudly and she didn’t bother to punish him for it. “What the hell is he doing here?”

            “I don’t know,” she stammered, then reached behind her to pick up her shivering baby.

            His clothes were ripped and streaked with mud, and the back of his shirt was torn completely open.

             _‘Oh no. His Big Dog shirt…’_  she bemoaned.

            “It looks like he ran all the way here…” she commented, looking him over. His hands were filthy.  _‘What on earth happened?’_

            Suddenly Inuyasha sniffed and growled. Then he grabbed Yukio by what was left of his shirt and yanked him to his face.

            “What have you done?” he demanded.

            “Inuyasha!” she scolded, surprised by his rough treatment of the child.  _‘He just interrupted us. It’s not like we haven’t done it three times already and we’ll have other_   _opportunities…’_

            Yukio cringed and submitted, but Inuyasha continued to scruff him angrily.

            “What have you  ** _done?!_** ”

            “Inuyasha!” she warned, getting angry and preparing to ‘sit’ him if he didn’t let her baby go.

            He flashed her a furious glare and bared his teeth. “Stay out of this!” he ordered.

            She flinched and her eyes opened wide at his rage, then she stared as he took the baby and pinned him down by his throat, snarling and growling. On some level she knew he wasn’t hurting her son or applying any pressure at all on his tender windpipe, but it was still painful to watch. Yukio began to wail, begging for forgiveness and squirming in his father’s grasp. His struggles only earned him another scruffing.

            “Inuyasha stop it!” she cried, unable to take it anymore.

            “I said stay out of this!”

            “Don’t punish him for wanting to be with us!”

            “He reeks of Miroku’s blood!” he spat back.

            She gasped.  _‘Miroku’s blood?’_

            Still pinning Yukio, Inuyasha ground out an explanation, “Somehow he got away from his keepers and made his way here…  ** _through_**   ** _the forest all by himself_**. At some point Kirara and Miroku tried to stop him. He’s got their scents all over him. Miroku must have grabbed him and he attacked. He’s got blood and flesh under his claws and it smells like he may have bitten him too.”

_‘Oh no…’_

            Yukio finally stopped struggling and his father let him up, only to grab him again.

            :Did you attack pack-male?!:

            :Pup sorry! Sorry! Sorry!:

            : ** _Did you attack pack-male?!_** :

            :Pup scared! Pup go to den! Pack-male grabbed pup!:

            :Pup  ** _never_**  attacks pack-member!  ** _Never!_** :

            Inuyasha deposited Yukio in his sleeping space none too gently and turned his back. The pup, looking devastated, reached for his father, but Inuyasha moved away and ignored him. He then turned pleading eyes her way and she didn’t know what to do.

            “Turn your back. Don’t look at him,” Inuyasha commanded.

_‘But if I do that he’ll think…’_

            “Do it. He’s being punished. Turn your back.”

_‘He’s not trying to hurt Yukio, and Yukio obviously disobeyed and hurt our friends. I… I have to trust him in this.’_

            Her heart breaking at the sight of her baby’s tear-streaked face, she did as Inuyasha ordered and turned her back. Yukio’s cries of panic and horror when they seemingly cast him out of the pack cut right through her, and it took all she had not to pick him up and comfort him. She settled for comforting her adult hanyou, who was obviously badly shaken and upset.

            “Inuyasha,” she whispered gently, placing one hand on his bare shoulder.

            His hand immediately came up to grasp hers, holding on to it like a lifeline.

            “He ran away from them and came here through the forest,” he replied hoarsely.

            She gulped, nodding, knowing his thoughts were just as dark as hers.  _‘Anything could have happened to him. Anything. My God, we could have lost him.’_

            She shivered and decided that Inuyasha’s punishment was paltry compared to what could have happened to him if he’d gotten hurt, attacked or lost.

            “Otou! Okaa!” Yukio cried, going to them and putting his hands on their backs, scrabbling at their bare skin, trying to make them acknowledge him.

            Inuyasha spun and snarled, making Yukio flinch and skitter back to his spot.

            :PUP STAY!: “ ** _You stay where I put you!_** ”

            Yukio sucked in huge gasping breaths, sobbing and whimpering.

            “Otouuuuuu… Okaaaaaaa…” :Pup sorry. Pup sorry…: he sniffled, and she had to close her eyes and clench her fists not to turn around, but she was following Inuyasha’s lead and he hadn’t told her she could.

            “I know I’m being harsh,” he told her gently and she was relieved not to hear anger in his voice. “But he has to learn now. He can’t ever turn his claws and fangs on a pack member. He doesn’t know his own strength and he could really hurt one of them. In a year or two he’ll be able to sever a limb without thinking, and he could kill a human without really meaning to. Being strict with him now is the only way.”

            “I understand,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder again.

            “And he disobeyed and ran away from the people we trusted to watch him. He has to learn to listen to what we say.”

            “He just wanted to be with us. We’re his parents and you’ve been gone for so long. He missed you terribly,” she explained.

            “I know and I understand that. Maybe it was wrong of me to leave him with the monk, but I wanted time alone with you and he was only going to be away from us until dinner.”

            “I know. I don’t blame you for wanting that. I wanted to be alone with you too.”

            She saw him swallow hard and close his eyes, shuddering, but not with arousal.

            “He knew enough to track us here. He came all the way from the village all by himself. If a youkai had sniffed him out he would have been completely unprotected and defenseless,” he said brokenly.

            “I know. I’m still reeling from it myself. On one hand, I’m amazed and proud of him for being able to make it here without any guidance, but on the other hand, I’m scared to death of what could have happened.”

            He put his arm around her and pulled her close, touching his forehead to the side of her temple.

            “I know. I know,” he breathed, his hand tightening on her shoulder as he sighed.

            “Otou… Okaa…” Yukio mewled plaintively behind them, still sniffling and gasping in hitched breaths.

            “Has he been punished enough?” she asked hopefully.

            Inuyasha nodded. “Yeah. Let me go first.”

            “Okay.”

            She waited as Inuyasha slowly turned around to look at their son, his arms crossed over his chest.

            :Pup be good?: “You gonna listen now?”

            :Pup good! Pup good!: “Otou… Hai…” he whimpered.

            :Pup obey?: “You won’t disobey us again?”

            :Pup good.: “Noooooo. Otou…”

            :Pup never attack pack-member?: “You’ll never hurt a pack member again?”

            :Never, never, never. Pup never.: “Noooooo.”

            “Okay.” :Forgiven.:

            He opened his arms and Yukio barreled into them, crying with relief and remorse.

            :Pup sorry. Pup sorry!: “Otou. Otou.”  

            Inuyasha hugged his son and stroked his back tenderly, making little noises of forgiveness and welcome.

            “Okay, you can turn around now,” he told her, and she moved immediately, wrapping her arms around both her hanyous with Yukio pressed between them, then she gathered him up and held him close.

            “Shhhh. Shhhh, my baby. It’s okay. You’re alright now. We forgive you. We love you.”

            “Okaa… Okaa…” her son sobbed, clutching at her and pressing his face to her shoulder. :Mother-female. Mother-female.:

            Inuyasha came close and put one arm around her shoulders as he rubbed Yukio’s back and ears. Gently she took her son and lowered him to her breast. It wasn’t his feeding time, and she knew feeding him now would mean she’d only have a little milk for later, but letting him nurse was the quickest way of showing him that he was forgiven. He latched on and began to suck desperately. He was a little rough but he wasn’t using his teeth so she didn’t discipline him. He’d been disciplined enough already.

            “I should go see how bad it is,” Inuyasha said.

            “Miroku?”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “Okay. I’ll clean him up in the stream and put him in new clothes, then I’ll come find you.”

            Inuyasha fingered the ruined shirt. “Your favorite Big Dog shirt…”

            “It was old and too small for him anyway. I’ve been meaning to go back to that store and look for another one.” She nuzzled him and teased. “I’ll get you one too if you want.”

            He gave her a little smile. “Heh. Don’t need a funny shirt to know I’m the big dog.”

            She giggled, then regarded him seriously. “I love you.”

            His smile widened and he kissed her gently. “I’m glad to be home.”

            “I’m glad you’re home too.”

            Giving her another kiss, he pulled away and reached for his clothes.

            “Don’t be too long. Miroku will probably need your medicines and bandages.”

            She nodded. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

            He gave a grunt of agreement and moved to leave the den, examining the ripped reed door.

            “I’ll fix this later.”

            “Okay.”

            With a final nod to her, he slipped out. She waited until Yukio was finished nursing, letting him suckle long after her milk was gone just for the comfort value, then dressed herself, found clean clothes for her son and carried him out to the stream.

 

********

 

            It took Inuyasha longer than they had anticipated, but he did find them. He seemed surprised to see them waiting for him by the stream, but he moved immediately to Miroku’s side and examined the wounds.

            “I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time.

            “I put him down and went to help Keiko carry water and he wandered off,” he explained, amazed that Inuyasha seemed more upset than angry.

            “He called to me to watch him, but I never heard him,” Sango added.

            “I tracked him up here, but when we caught up to him, he got scared and bit Miroku,” Shippou said.

            The hanyou took his arm and turned it to see the bite wounds. He saw Inuyasha blanch and frown.

            “These are deep…”

            “I’ll be fine. He didn’t puncture anything serious.”

            “He could’ve severed the tendons.”

            “He could have, but he didn’t. He didn’t mean it. I grabbed him from behind and frightened him.”

            “You’re not mad?”

            “No, of course not,” he answered, surprised to see the flash of fear and uncertainty in the hanyou’s eyes.  _‘He’s… he’s worried I’ll blame the child and hold it against him because he’s a hanyou.’_

            “Yukio is just a baby,” Sango said and he realized that she’d seen and understood what Inuyasha was thinking too. “It’s not his fault.”

_‘Bless you, woman.’_

            “I shouldn’t have left him with you. Kagome spoils him and he’s used to getting his way.”

            “He’s just living up to his name,” he joked weakly.

            “We’re just glad you’re not mad that we lost him,” Shippou admitted.

            “Bah. I shouldn’t have expected a couple of weak humans to watch a hanyou pup. He’s a handful for Kagome and me and we’re used to him.”

            “We were amazed at how far he traveled. He knew exactly where he was going,” Sango added.

            Inuyasha nodded. “Pup’s always tracked us well. He just followed our scent.”

            He coughed. “And it isn’t like you hadn’t  ** _left_**  your scents behind for him to follow,” he commented leadingly.

            He saw the hanyou’s eyes narrow then open wide and a flush come to his cheeks as he figured out what he was referring to.

_‘Yes, we found Kagome’s torn undergarments under the tree, you shameless hentai.’_

            Inuyasha sputtered a bit, but he just smiled and gave him a wink.

            “But he did give us such a scare,” Sango said. “He was all alone in this forest with no one to protect him. If it had been Miyoko out here, I would have been terrified.”

            “Heh, Miyoko won’t be able to walk for at least another six months, and even then she won’t get far when she does,” Inuyasha scoffed, then softened. “Still, I’m very glad that he made it to the den safely, and I’m sorry he hurt you, Miroku.”

            He waved his less injured arm. “As I said, it was more my fault than his. He was just protecting himself.”

            “I punished him and I’m sure he won’t do it again.”

             _‘Oh, I’m quite sure he won’t. From the way he screamed, his punishment must have been very severe indeed.’_

            “I hope you didn’t hurt him,” Sango blurted, worried.

            Inuyasha scowled at her. “Of course I didn’t hurt him. You think I would hurt my son?”

            “No… no. Of course you wouldn’t.”

            “A spanking would be fine as long as it wasn’t too harsh,” he commented.

            “I didn’t spank him,” Inuyasha countered. “I threatened him with rejection from the pack. If he’d been old enough to know what he was doing, his attack on you could have made me cast him out for a couple of days. That kind of threat to an inu-youkai is much more effective than one of your human punishments.”

_‘Hmmm, I wonder if all the beatings he got as a child will make him refuse to raise his hand to his son. I know Kagome-sama said Sesshoumaru was extremely harsh with Inuyasha.’_

            “Yes, I suppose that would work better than any spanking,” Sango agreed.

            “Keh!”

            “Sango-chan. Miroku-sama. Shippou,” Kagome greeted as she came to the stream carrying a blotchy-faced, red-eyed Yukio.

_‘Well, he is certainly looking very contrite.’_

            He watched as the girl gave Yukio to Inuyasha then came over to see his arms.

            “Inuyasha said Yukio had your blood on him. Will you let me see?” she asked.

            He nodded and lifted his sleeves. She gasped when she saw the punctures from the child’s fangs.

            “Kami-sama… he really bit you.”

            “It’s mostly just a flesh wound,” he reassured her.

            She turned his arm to see the gashes from Yukio’s claws. “And these gashes…”

            “They will heal. We are just glad this is all that happened and nothing worse.”

            “Kagome-chan, we are so sorry. Miroku went to help Keiko carry water and asked me to watch Yukio but I didn’t hear him. When he came back and found that Yukio wasn’t where he’d left him, he assumed I had him. It wasn’t until I asked him where Yukio was that we realized he’d wandered off,” Sango apologized.

            “You must have been so scared, Sango-chan.”

_‘And as always, her first thoughts are for the pain of others and not for herself.’_

            “Me? I didn’t know how I was going to tell you if we couldn’t find him. If it had been Miyoko who was missing, I would have been beside myself. I don’t know what we would have done if anything had happened to him,” his wife admitted tearfully.

            “Oh, Sango-chan,” Kagome said and hugged her.

            Inuyasha brought Yukio over to him and made the child look at the damage he’d done.

            “Look what you did,” the adult hanyou scolded.

            Still teary-eyed, Yukio looked at his father then to him and stuffed a fist into his mouth.

            “You will say you’re sorry and you will never do this again. Right?”

            The toddler nodded, then reached for Miroku. Surprised, he took the boy into his arms and was stunned when Yukio hugged him, whimpering.

            “Orry, orry,” he sniffled.

            Sighing, he patted the child’s back and hugged him. “I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

            Yukio whimpered again and Kirara hopped into his lap, rubbing up against the child and mewing. The boy hugged the firecat in her kitten form and she purred for him.

            “Orry, orry, orry,” he said, tears rolling down his little round cheeks.

            Kirara licked his tears away and nuzzled him. Pulling away, he turned to his father and opened his arms.

            “Otou…”

            Inuyasha moved to pick him up, but Kagome stopped him.       

            “I’ll take him. I need to wash and change him,” she said, lifting her son into her arms.

            “Okaa…” the boy murmured, resting his head on Kagome’s shoulder.

            Kagome moved to take Yukio to the stream and Sango, Kirara and Shippou went with her. There was a shallow pool formed by an eddy in the bank just a short distance downstream that was perfect for bathing as long as you didn’t mind the cold water.

            “Don’t… don’t tell anyone that Yukio bit you, please,” Inuyasha said once the women were out of earshot.

            “You don’t want anyone to know he can be dangerous.”          

            “The fewer reminders they have that he’s a hanyou the better. Let them think he’s just a helpless baby with puppy ears. At least until he’s old enough to defend himself.”

            He nodded. “As you wish.”

            “The old woman can know. She’ll have to treat your wounds and she can be trusted. I just don’t want anyone else knowing because they might decide two hanyous in one village is two too many.”

            “I doubt that. You’ve proven too many times that you are an invaluable village protector, and I think you’ve saved all of their lives at least once,” he argued. “Besides, who would blame an innocent child for defending himself in the only way he knew how?”

            Inuyasha’s eyes clouded and he frowned. “You’d be surprised, monk. You’d be surprised.”

            He regarded the hanyou seriously, wondering what painful memory he was recalling.

_‘He’s had a hard life and he wants to spare his son the pain he suffered.’_

            Knowing how much he loved and wanted to protect his own child, he would never begrudge his friend that. He knew too well what humans could do if they turned into a mob. And Inuyasha probably knew first hand what it was like to be hunted by one. He thought of Yukio’s poor mother and the terror and pain she must have felt when her mate was killed, then the agony and struggle of her last four days of life.

             _‘Horrible. And Kagome would do the same thing. We spend so much time convincing ourselves that all demons and half-demons are evil. But how many of them are like him? And how many of them have we killed just because they were different from us?’_

            “I will never betray you, my friend,” he assured him.

            Inuyasha’s eyes flooded with some emotion which might have been gratitude, before closing off again.

            “Bah! Like you could,” he snorted, huffing.

            He waited, knowing the hanyou would most likely speak again. He’d been taking lessons from Kagome on ‘the care and handling of irritable hanyous,’ and knew that if you didn’t rise to take Inuyasha’s bait, a capitulation was soon to follow. It came a few moments later.

            “Oi, monk,” he said, casting him a side-long glance.

            “Yes?”

            “Thanks. The last thing I want is for the villagers to turn against us. I’d... I’d be okay, but I’d be worried about the old woman, and Kagome... Kagome should never have to see that, y’know?”

            He nodded. “I know, and they won’t. Your home is safe. In time, you will build Kagome a house in the village and live in it with her and your children.”

            Inuyasha pursed his lips and nodded, and Miroku knew he wouldn’t get any more out of the normally closed-off hanyou. What he’d gotten was enough to tell him all the things Inuyasha couldn’t say.

             _‘You can trust me, Inuyasha. I know it’s taken you a long time to believe that, but it’s true. We’ll all keep Yukio safe, and I’ll raise my children to respect and like hanyous. It might be only the barest scratch in the surface of the hatred many feel towards them, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.’_

            “We should get you to the old woman. She and Kagome should treat those wounds,” Inuyasha finally said.

            He stood. “I agree. Let us find the women and head back. I’m sure that Kagome must be nearly finished washing Yukio by now.”

            Inuyasha cocked his ear and listened for a moment. “Judging by how he’s wailing about how cold the water is, my guess would be yes, she’ll be done with him soon.”

            He chuckled and moved to walk down the path that lead downstream. Inuyasha joined him, and they walked in companionable silence as they went to rejoin Kagome and the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When this was being written, the very talented Kristin Bergh was kind enough, and inspired, to draw several fan art pictures for The Lucky Ones. There are a few still up on her deviant art site in her Inuyasha gallery. http://kriscynical.deviantart.com/gallery/50178/Inuyasha?offset=0


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

            Autumn progressed and all the signs pointed to a particularly harsh winter. As Kagome studied and dealt with the added stresses of her senior year of high school, Inuyasha and the village men prepared for the coming lean season. Much of the village’s winter firewood needs were already taken care of thanks to Inuyasha’s tree cutting spree that summer, but larders and root cellars still needed to be filled with food that would last the winter.

            When she wasn’t studying, Kagome was helping Kaede gather and dry herbs that would soon no longer be easy to find. She also stocked up on medicines from her time, preparing for the winter cold season, although the villagers rarely became ill with something like the common cold. Infection was the worst fear most of the time and Kaede’s poultices and tonics usually cured the minor cases, but her modern medicine was always welcome, especially her bandages and treatments for burns. Kagome made sure the old miko had plenty of gauze and anti-bacterial soaps and creams, plus her medicines for poisons and venoms.

            Yukio had been with them almost nine months and soon he would be a year old. It was hard for her to believe that so much time had passed because it seemed to her that it was only yesterday that his mother had come staggering into the village with her hanyou infant. At the same time, she couldn’t imagine her life without the giggling bundle of mischief the baby was turning into. Mobile and communicative, Yukio was getting into all the trouble a toddler almost twice his age would find, and both she and Inuyasha were having trouble keeping up with him. He was almost completely weaned now, with her down to nursing him briefly once a day before bedtime.

            With weaning well under way, she’d tackled the chore of potty-training him, only to find that he practically did it himself. Inuyasha explained that Yukio knew instinctively not to soil where he slept, or as the adult hanyou had so colorfully put it, “Pups know not to shit in the den.” Instinct or no, he was ridiculously easy to house-train, and was now just about off diapers. She had him in the walking pull-up diapers that served double-duty as underwear just in case he had any ‘accidents.’

            It was a cool late autumn day and Kagome and the others were all sitting outside of Miroku’s hut, when she suddenly felt the familiar tingle of a shikon shard. She and Inuyasha both snapped to attention at the same time.

            “Kagome-sama?” Miroku questioned.

            “Shikon fragments. Two of them, coming closer.”         

            Inuyasha began to growl loudly, making Yukio hide behind his mother.

            “It’s that damn wolf. I can already smell his stink. And he’s brought friends.”

            “Kouga?”  _‘But Kouga usually approaches so fast…’_

            Gripping Tessaiga, the hanyou was off to face the challenge before Kagome could stop him.

            “Inuyasha!”

            “Kagome-sama,” Miroku said and she turned to see the houshi and Shippou on the transformed firecat.

            “I’ll stay here with Kohaku and defend the village if something gets past Inuyasha,” Sango offered, moving to put Miyoko into their hut.

            “Thank you Sango-chan,” she answered gratefully, hopping onto the firecat behind Miroku.

            “It will be good to get back in action again,” the taijiya admitted.

            “Forgive me if I hope that doesn’t happen,” the monk said quietly.

            “Okaa-san! Okaa-san!” Yukio cried, seeing that he was about to be left behind.

            “Stay with Sango,” she told him. :Pup stay with pack-female.:

            “NO!” It was his new favorite word.

            She growled at him. “Do as I say.”

            He started to pout and give her his tell-tale pre-temper tantrum face.

             _‘I don’t have time for this…’_  “Do it or Otou-san will scruff you,” she warned.

            “NO!” :Mother-female don’t leave pup!:

_:Pup **stay**  with pack-female!:_

            His bottom lip started trembling and she knew he was seconds away from a full-fledged crying fit.

            “I’ll watch him Kagome-chan,” Sango assured her.

_‘Only because he knows better than to turn his claws on you…’_

            “Okay. Let’s go,” she said, hardening her heart before she changed her mind.

            Miroku urged Kirara ahead and they took off, hoping to get there before Inuyasha’s brashness caused serious damage to the village. She heard Yukio’s cries, but knew he would be safe with Sango. If Kouga was coming, she didn’t want to give the wolf youkai any chance to take her son.

            They found Inuyasha standing, Tessaiga at the ready, at the edge of the forest. They were surprised to find that the old miko was beside him, bow and arrows in her hand along with Kagome’s bow.

            “Here, child,” Kaede said, handing her the bow. “There are many approaching.”

            “I know.”  _‘I can feel the youki. But… why is he coming here. He’s never come to the village. Is he… is he coming to get revenge on Inuyasha and me?’_

            They waited, along with a number of the village men, for the wolf youkai to come out of the forest.

            “I wanna know what the hell that stinking wolf is doing coming here,” Inuyasha complained. “He should fucking know better.”

            “Inuyasha,” she warned.

            “What? Pup’s not here, right?”

            She sighed. ‘ _It’s hopeless. I should just stop trying.’_

            “You say you know this youkai, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked.

            The hanyou nodded. “He’s always pawing at Kagome, and calling her his beloved. He even tried to take the pup. Kagome almost ripped his arm off.”

            “I sense shards.”

            “Kouga has two in his legs,” she replied. ‘ _But something is different. I can feel it.’_

            “Don’t worry, Kaede-babaa. I can handle these wimpy wolves without any problems.”

            “But please, let’s see what he wants first before we attack, okay?” she tried.  _‘I don’t want to have to hurt him any more than I already have.’_

            “Bah! Woman, the way you talk I might think you have feelings for that flea bag.”

            “He’s saved my life a couple of times. I owe him enough not to attack him unless he attacks first.”

            Inuyasha snorted but nodded in agreement.

            When Kouga emerged from the trees, he was walking. That in and of itself was odd, but what really gave her pause was who was walking beside him. Although she hadn’t seen the red-headed female wolf youkai in almost two years, she recognized her immediately.

            “Ayame…” ‘ _Ayame. What is she doing with Kouga? Has he finally…’_ she wondered hopefully.

            Hakkaku and Ginta were behind them, along with what seemed like the entire remainder of the wolf pack.

            “Oi! Wolf! What the hell are you up to coming here?” Inuyasha challenged.

            Kagome put a restraining hand on his arm and took a step forward. “Inuyasha, wait.”  _‘The shards are here, but they’re not in his legs anymore. That’s why he was walking. Could that mean what I think it means?’_

            “Oi, what the fuck are you doing, woman?” he hissed.

            Kouga and Ayame looked at each other, then Ayame nodded and they both approached, their hands up in peace. Inuyasha and Kagome moved forward to meet them while the others stayed behind. Coming closer, she could see that Kouga’s arm had healed rather well and for that she was glad. It was scarred but it looked like he had full use of it.

            “Kouga. Ayame,” she greeted.

            “Kagome,” the female wolf youkai replied, nodding.

            “Whaddya want, wolf?” Inuyasha growled.

            “I came to speak with Kagome,” Kouga answered.

            “Then speak to her and get the hell out of here.”

            “Alone,” the wolf prince amended.

            Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and bared his teeth. “Why I ought to…”

            “Inuyasha,” she warned.

            He blinked at her. “You can’t honestly tell me that you intend to go off with him!”

            She touched his shoulder to reassure him, and spoke gently, “Ayame is here. I think I know what this means. I’ll be perfectly safe. Besides, if he tries anything, you’ll kill him, right?”

            Inuyasha snorted. “Right. One wrong move, one  ** _twitch_** out of place, and I’ll shred you,” he threatened.

            Kouga met his gaze without fear or submission, but nodded.

            She stepped up to the wolf lord and nodded for him to lead the way. He turned and walked away from the group, leading her closer to the trees but not out of sight.

            “We shouldn’t go too far. You know how anxious he gets,” she reminded.

            “I just want to get out of Dog-turd’s ear shot.” He walked a little further then stopped. “This should be far enough.”

            They stood and faced each other. It was an awkward silence because there was so much between them and their last meeting had been so painful. Finally, Kagome gathered enough courage to speak.

            “Your arm… it looks like it healed well. I’m glad,” she commented.

            He touched the scar, his eyes unreadable. “You did not damage me permanently. You could have easily killed me, but you didn’t and for that I’m grateful.”

            She lowered her gaze, blushing with shame. “I… I never wanted to hurt you…”

            “But I had your pup. I forgot because it had been so long since I had been around a breeding bitch how protective of her pups a mother could be. I was a fool to grab him.”

            “And Inuyasha and the others… they said you would kill him.”

            Kouga huffed. “Does he think I am that simple-minded? I am the leader of my tribe. It would be beneath me to kill a helpless pup.”

             _‘But you did say you would have killed any pups of ours…’_  she thought, but decided not to remind him of that. Words spoken in the heat of battle could often not be trusted.

            She opted to nod instead. “I understand that now.”

            “I would never have harmed him.”

            “That makes me very glad to hear.”

            Kouga took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I came… to say good-bye.”

             _‘Ah, it’s as I thought…’_

            “Good-bye?”

            “The Eastern Cave is being abandoned. I am going with Ayame to the Northern Cave . We will rebuild our tribe together.”

            “You’re going to take her as your mate then?”

            He nodded. “Yes.”

            She smiled. “Good. I am glad.”

            He shrugged. “She is not you, but she is a good woman. She will make me happy and bear good pups.”

            “Kouga… I’m sorry…”

            “Don’t be. That stinking dog-turd had your heart long before I ever met you, and nothing I ever did swayed it,” he admitted.

            “I always appreciated your affections, Kouga, even if I didn’t return them.”

            He gave her a sad nod. “You always treated me kindly, and helped me whenever you could. That is another reason my behavior was so unforgivable. You thought of me as pack, even protected my followers, and I repaid you by stealing your pup. Even Dog-turd’s saved me more than once, though I hate to admit it.”

            “I know you think he’s nothing more than a stupid, violent jerk, but you don’t know him like I do and you’ve never seen the side of him he shows to me. He is a good man and I love him very much,” she said softly.

            Kouga sighed and looked away, his face pensive and weary.

            “I wanted to see you one more time before I go; to apologize for taking your pup, and also… to give you these.”

            He reached into his armor and pulled out the shikon fragments, placing them in her upturned hands.

_‘His shards…’_

            “Kouga-kun, thank you.”

            “There was a time when we were at war with the Gokuraku-chou when these were invaluable, and again when we were fighting Naraku. But Naraku is dead and the Gokuraku-chou are as decimated as my tribe. Now these shards only attract power-hungry youkai to my den. If I am to have pups and rebuild my tribe, it would be better not to have something that attracts so much attention. It is true that I will not be as fast, but I am strong, and I think it is time for me to stop depending on them,” he explained, holding her hands.

            She gave him a tender smile. “That is good to hear Kouga-kun.”

            “This will also assure that Dog-turd doesn’t come hunting for them himself, and hopefully I’ll never have to see him again.”

            “Oi! How long are you gonna hold her hands, you fucker!” Inuyasha yelled, looking like he was going to come storming over.

            Both she and Kouga rolled their eyes and she gave Kouga a little wink.

            “Inuyasha. Osuwari!”

            The hanyou immediately hit the ground with a thud and a series of colorful curses.

            Kouga chuckled. “Although I think I will miss hearing you do that.”

            She giggled, then grew serious. “The northern lands? They’re cold.”

            “Not too cold, and they are more remote; fewer humans.”

            “Will you go back to hunting humans?” she asked fearfully.

            He shook his head. “No. We won’t attack humans unless they attack us.”

            “I’m glad.”

            She put the shards in the vial around her neck, then placed her hand on his scarred arm.

            “I’m so glad I didn’t cut your arm off. I was afraid that I had or that you would lose it because it wouldn’t heal properly,” she admitted.

            He touched the scar as well, threading his fingers with hers.

            “It took a long time to heal and delayed our trip to the north. We had wanted to leave earlier than this to make sure we could get through the mountain passes before the snows. It will be a bad winter.”

            “The weather readers here say the same thing. I hope that you will get to your new cave safely.”

            Her concern made him smile. “There’s no need to worry about me, Kagome. I don’t need looking after like that mangy mutt of yours.”

            She smiled and shook her head as she gently pulled her fingers from his. “The two of you will never get along. I’m amazed that you  ** _haven’t_**  killed each other, although I am glad that you are both alive.”

            “How is your pup?” he asked suddenly.

            She beamed. “He’s doing really well. Walking, talking, and becoming more like Inuyasha every day. He’ll be a year old in a little over a month.”

            “That is good to hear.”

            “His latest thing is to say ‘no’ to everything I tell him to do. And of course, he’s learning all of Inuyasha’s bad habits…”

            She looked over at Inuyasha to see him holding Yukio and frowned.  _‘He must have gotten away from Sango…’_  Sure enough, the taijiya was running towards him, her face flushed and sweaty from exertion.

            “Like refusing to stay where he’s told,” she added dourly.

            Kouga laughed softly. “While I hate to pass up a chance to insult Dog-turd, from what I remember of pups, they’re all that way.”

            She sighed as Yukio caught sight of her and she could hear his “OKAA-SAN!!!” as he screamed at the top of his lungs, making everyone around him cringe.

            “We’d better go back before Inuyasha pops a vein. We’ve been here for a while and I’ve already sat him once, and he’s glaring at us as if looks could kill.”

            Kouga chuckled. “And we should go. The wolves are making your villagers nervous.”

            She looked at Kaede and the village men and saw them looking very uncomfortable. Turning to Kouga, they both walked back to where Inuyasha, Ayame, the breathless Sango and the suddenly contrite Yukio were waiting.

             _‘Hmmm, must have just remembered that I told him to stay with Sango,’_  she fumed.

            Ayame was cooing at the toddler and fussing over him. She turned to her betrothed with an irritated look in her eyes and her hands on her hips.

_‘Oh-oh… looks like Kouga’s in trouble already.’_

            “ ** _This_**  was the pup you threatened?” the female wolf youkai demanded.

            Kouga stammered and looked chagrined. “I wasn’t going to hurt him!” he defended.

            She whacked him on the head with her fist. “If it had been  ** _my_**  pup you took, I would have done a lot more than almost sever your arm!”

            “Hah, take that you wimpy wolf,” Inuyasha taunted, earning him a thump on the head from her as well.

            “Hey, don’t call my mate names!”

            “Mate?” the adult hanyou repeated.

            Ayame smiled and hooked her arm with Kouga’s who was still rubbing his head. “Kouga and I are to be married.”           

            Inuyasha looked at the two wolf youkai and then smiled wickedly.

            “Well this means you won’t come sniffing around Kagome anymore, will you? That  ** _is_**  good news!”

            “Congratulations,” Sango offered. “I hope you’re very happy together.”

            “We will be, and I hope to have lots of pups that are just as cute as you,” Ayame replied, scratching Yukio’s ears.

            Yukio giggled at her, then saw his mother glaring at him and flattened his ears.

_‘You’d better submit, you little stinker.’_

            Inuyasha looked at her, saw her glare and looked at his son.

            “Okay, pup, what did you do?”

            “I ordered him to stay with Sango and he obviously ran away from her,” she ground out angrily, making Yukio shrink against his father.

            Sango looked apologetic. “He’s just so fast, Kagome-chan.”

            “It’s okay, Sango-chan. I understand. And he’s at that age where he’s going to push his limits.”

            Inuyasha sighed and then pinned Yukio with a look. :Did you disobey mother-female?:

            Big golden eyes blinked and turned misty, but he was honest and nodded. “Okaa-san go ‘way.”

            “Okaa-san told you to stay with Sango-chan,” she said firmly. “Okaa-san thought there might be danger.”

            Yukio sniffed and turned eyes to Kouga, sniffing again. :Not-pack male.: Then his eyes widened and it was obvious that he remembered the last time he had smelled that scent. He let out a frightened whine and scrabbled at his father’s haori. :Leader-male! Leader-male!:

            “Relax, pup. You’re safe. But this is why your mother told you to stay where she put you. You wanna get scruffed?”

            The toddler shook his head. “Noooooo.”

            “Then you gotta listen to what we tell you,” he scolded, then turned to Kagome. “So what do you think we should do with him?”

            He was asking her what kind of punishment they should mete out, but he winked at her and that told her it would be more threat than actual discipline.

            “Oh I dunno. Maybe we ought to toss him,” she answered, referring to the practice of making him lie down on the ground and submit. It was similar to pinning him, but without the hand to his throat.

            “Noooooooo!” Yukio cried, kicking.

            Inuyasha grabbed his son’s legs and stopped him. “You don’t kick me. You don’t kick anyone. Understand?”

            Sniffling, Yukio nodded and began to chew on his fist like he always did when he was upset.

            “If you don’t want to get tossed and you don’t want to get scruffed, are you gonna listen?” Inuyasha said.

            He nodded vigorously. :Pup good! Pup good!:

            “Okay.”

            Inuyasha turned to Sango and handed Yukio to her.

            “Here, take him back to the village. He is to stay with you until we come for him.”

            :Stay with pack-female,: he ordered Yukio. “If you don’t stay, you will be punished. Got it?”

            Yukio nodded again, tearfully, as Shippou hopped onto Sango’s shoulder.

            “I’ll come with you, Yukio,” the kit offered.

            “Shippou…” :Pack-brother.:

            “See, Shippou is going with you,” she comforted. “Stay with Sango-chan and we’ll come get you when we’re finished here, okay baby?”

            “’Kay.”

            “C’mon. I think I have some sweet roots in the hut,” Sango told him as she carried him off.

            Kagome watched them go.

            “Why is it that when you tell him to do something, he does it, but when I tell him, he ignores me?” she commented.

            “One, because he’s attached to you and he doesn’t want you out of his sight if he can help it. Two, I’m the one who punishes him. You’re the push-over,” he explained.

            “I am not,” she complained. “I’ve scruffed him before.”

            “Keh, like when? You keep threatening to do it, but I’ve never seen you follow through. I’m not telling you to be harsh with him, but if you say you’re going to punish him and he wheedles his way out of it, he’ll never respect you.”

            “Respect me?” she repeated, getting angry. “Are you saying my baby doesn’t look up to me?!”

            Inuyasha cringed and flattened his ears just like Yukio had only minutes before. “Eh…”

            “We… should be going,” Kouga interrupted.

            She turned to the wolves and blushed, realizing that she had been on the verge of creating a scene right in front of them.

_‘Not that that ever stopped me before, but…’_

            “Yes, you should,” Inuyasha replied brazenly.

            “Inuyasha,” she warned, and he cringed again.  _‘I’m a push-over, huh? Then why are you submitting all over the place?’_

            Kouga took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “Good-bye, Kagome. I’ll never forget you. But you’ll have to learn to live without me from now on,” he said to her.

            His voice was sincere, but she could see the twinkle in his eyes that told her he was doing it just to irritate Inuyasha. It worked because the hanyou bristled and started to growl low in his throat.

            “Get your hands off of her, you bastard! And in front of your own woman too!” he seethed, swiping at the wolf youkai.

            Kouga leaped out of the way, but just barely. “Hup!”

            “Keh, you’ve gotten a lot slower, haven’t you wolf!”

            “I’m still fast enough to outwit you!” Kouga countered. “But you’d better take good care of her, Dog-turd. If I get a whiff that she’s unhappy, I’ll come gut you myself.”

            “Just get out of here and mind your own fucking business!”

            “C’mon Ayame. It’s time for us to go.”

            The female wolf youkai smiled and nodded. “Good-bye.”

            “Take care and be happy,” Kagome said.

            “We will.”

            Hakkaku and Ginta approached as their alpha-pair moved off.

            “Thank you, Nee-chan,” Ginta said.

            “Yes, thank you for everything. We’ll miss you,” Hakkaku added.

            She smiled at them. “I’ll miss you too. Safe travels to your new cave and good luck.”

            “Oi! We’re leaving now!” Kouga warned as he and Ayame began to run back to the trees. The wolves followed.

            “Good-bye, Nee-chan!” “Bye!” Hakkaku and Ginta called as they hurried to catch up.

            “Bye!” she called after them, waving.

            “And good riddance!” Inuyasha added.

            “Osuwari,” she commanded, making him hit the dirt.

            “Gah! What’d you do that for, wench?”

            “Because you were being rude.”

            She turned away, feeling oddly subdued herself. She was glad that Kouga was alright and had finally moved on from his hopeless love for her, but part of her was sad to see him go. He had always been kind to her and, like Houjou in her time, she could have loved him if not for Inuyasha.

             _‘I hope you live a long, happy life with Ayame and have many pups, Kouga-kun. You deserve it.’_

            “He gave you his shards?” Kaede asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

            She touched the vial at her throat. “Yes. He said that they would attract attention to his den that he didn’t want.”

            “Feh. Wolf might actually have a brain after all,” Inuyasha grumbled.

            Kagome just sighed.  _‘At least I know Kouga would have been completely devoted to me. Unlike Inuyasha who still hasn’t resolved things with Kikyou. No… that’s not true. I’m not being fair. He hasn’t resolved things because no one has seen her for over nine months. The last time she appeared was two weeks before we got Yukio and there’s been no sign of her since.’_

            She knew Inuyasha was worried about the undead miko because he’d finally gotten up enough courage to ask her if she had felt anything happen to Kikyou. After her initial irritation wore off, she realized that he was just concerned for his former love’s welfare, and was glad to be able to tell him that as far as her soul was concerned, Kikyou seemed fine.

            “Oi, Kagome, what are you brooding about that has that look on your face?” Inuyasha demanded.

            “Nothing,” she replied and tried to make her smile reach her eyes. “Let’s go get Yukio. I’m sure he’s giving Sango a hard time.”

            “I hope we will still have a hut left to live in,” Miroku commented, joining them as they headed for the village.

            “Keh.”

            “So Kagome-sama, Kouga gave you his shards?” Miroku questioned.

            “Yeah.”

            “That means you have collected quite a bit of the Shikon no Tama.”

            She looked at the fused jewel on the chain around her neck, along with the vial of shards that she had yet to add to the main piece.

            “About two-thirds I’d say.”

            The houshi nodded. “If things go as they have been, soon you will have the whole jewel in your possession.”

            She nodded. “Yeah.”  _‘And then what? Will Inuyasha make his wish? Will I have to go back to my time and stay there? What will happen to us? To Yukio?’_

            Inuyasha sensed her distress and came close, his presence a welcome comfort. She cast him a grateful look and reached for his hand. Like the situation with Kikyou, the final solution was out of her hands, and there was really no point in worrying about it.

             _‘I’ll enjoy and cherish what I have while I have it. The rest will have to take care of itself. I’ll just have to trust Inuyasha, and have faith that everything will work out alright,’_  she resolved as they returned to the village to pick up her son.

 


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

            Autumn progressed into winter and all the predictions of a harsh season came true. If there was any evidence supporting global warming, Kagome had to admit that winters in the Sengoku Jidai were  ** _much_**  colder than those of the modern era and there was  ** _a lot_**  more snow. The bad weather halted any shard hunts, and Kagome contented herself with studying for her mid-term exams and doing nothing more dangerous than teaching Yukio how to make snowballs. The toddler loved the snow and seemed immune to the cold. Unlike his mother, who would break out in shivers from just seeing him running around in the snow with bare feet.

            Inuyasha, aside from being bored and grumpy, was learning that cold winter mornings were nice for cuddling in the warm den, and that spending the day curled around your loved ones wasn’t so bad every now and then. He was also learning that snow could be fun when played in with a hanyou pup and a kitsune kit who ganged up on him. More than once she’d had to break up a snowball fight where she wasn’t sure who she was saving: the youngsters or Inuyasha.

            They celebrated Yukio’s first birthday in the Sengoku Jidai, approximating the date based on what his dying mother had told them of his age when she brought him to them. It snowed heavily that day and part of his present was a snow slide Inuyasha carved into the hillside by the village and stomped smooth. Kagome poured water on it to make it freeze and create a layer of slick ice, then they used coarse woven rucksacks as sleds and sent Yukio sliding down it. All of the village children got a turn going down, as well as a few of the adults, and the fun was a welcome break from the winter drudgery. Kagome brought back tons of food from her time and they had a feast, complete with a modern day red bean cake for Yukio and a birthday candle.

            Two days after the big birthday bash, Kagome had to go back to her time to take two major exams before the major winter break. Inuyasha was supposed to go with her, but then word came from a neighboring village asking for help with a collapsed bridge. Kagome convinced Inuyasha to go with the men who had volunteered to help repair the bridge, saying that his strength and immunity to the cold would prove invaluable, not to mention that his help would sow the seeds of good will between hanyous and humans. He took Yukio with him because he knew she had to study, and without him there to watch the toddler he wouldn’t leave Kagome alone. When the job was done, probably in as little as two days with Inuyasha’s help, he and Yukio would come to her time to join her, and they would all return together after her exams. They would also have a little birthday party in her era for Yukio during that time as well, since she would never dream of robbing her mother of an opportunity to continue spoiling the boy rotten.

            Kagome put her pencil down as the teacher called a halt to the examination period, and sighed with relief.

_‘It’s over. Finally. And I think I passed.’_

            Looking over to Ayumi, she saw that her friend had put her head down on her desk and was looking the worse for wear. She knew the girl hadn’t been feeling well, but now Ayumi’s skin was flushed and sweaty, and her eyes looked glazed. Kagome’s own throat tickled with the beginnings of a scratch and she frowned.

_‘Looks like we’re both getting sick. Damn.’_

            “Ayumi-chan,” she said, reaching over to touch her friend.

            “Oooohh… Kagome-chan. I don’t feel so well.”

            “Sensei,” Kagome called. “Ayumi isn’t feeling well. May I take her to the nurse?”

            The teacher came over, took one look at Ayumi’s flushed face and nodded. “Yes, Higurashi. Please escort Yabumotou to the infirmary.”

            Kagome stood and bowed. “Thank you, sensei.” Then she urged Ayumi to her feet. “C’mon, Ayumi-chan, let’s go to the nurse.”

            Ayumi stood slowly and leaned heavily on Kagome as they walked down to the infirmary.

            “Does your head hurt, Ayumi-chan?” she asked.

            “I hurt all over,” the other girl admitted.

_‘That’s not good…’_

            They arrived at the nurse’s office and the kindly woman took Ayumi’s temperature and other vitals, then felt her glands and let out a deep sigh.

            “Is someone home who can come pick you up?” the nurse asked.

            “Is it that bad, senpai?” Ayumi replied.

            “You have a high fever and the tell-tale signs of the flu. Besides you’re my fourth case today. Go home before you infect anyone else and I have an even bigger epidemic on my hands.”

_‘The flu? Oh shit.’_

            The nurse turned to her. “You too. Are you feeling well?”

            “Umm, I’ve got a sore throat. It started this morning.”

            “Go home too. Even if you aren’t showing signs, you’ve been exposed and you’re probably highly contagious.”

_‘Contagious. Oh crap. I probably gave it to Souta. Mama’s gonna kill me.’_

            Ayumi was getting up and she helped her stand. “I’ll call my mom. She can come get me.”

            “Good. Go home. Take some flu medication and get lots of fluids and rest. It’s the best thing for you right now.”

            She gave both of them surgical masks. “Here, put these on before you spread it and the whole school gets sick.”

            They put the masks on and Ayumi made a weak joke. “But if the whole school gets sick, won’t you get a day off?”  
            “Ha ha, funny. But I suppose I should be grateful. These days the flu’s just an inconvenience. A hundred years ago an outbreak like this could kill one out of every three people that got it, so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky,” the nurse replied and her words made Kagome turn cold.

             _‘One out of every three could die… I… I can’t go back to the Sengoku Jidai. I could bring this with me and infect the villagers…’_  She grew even colder.  _‘Inuyasha’s coming for me today and he’s bringing Yukio. I could infect my baby…’_

            “Yes, you get out of here too. You’re looking even paler than a few minutes ago. Do either of you need me to call your mothers?”

             _‘Is Mama even home? What about Jii-chan? Oh no, I shouldn’t be around him either…’_

            “I’ll call my mom on my mobile,” Ayumi said. “Kagome, do you need a ride?”

            “I… I need to call Mama.”

            “You can use my mobile.”

            “Okay, thanks.”

            “I’ll get you both a dose of flu medication,” the nurse offered, and went to the back room.

            “Do you want to call your mom first and see if she can come get you?” Ayumi asked, offering the cell phone.

            “Yes, please.”

            “Kagome are you feeling as bad as I am because you look really white.”

            “Inuyasha is coming for me today with Yukio,” she whispered. “I… I can’t expose my baby to this illness, and I can’t go back to the other time because I could spread it there and people could die.”

            Ayumi’s eyes widened as she realized what Kagome was saying. “Is there any way to tell him not to come for you?”

            “Only if Mama or Jii-chan are home and can catch him before he leaves the shrine. But knowing him, he’ll come through the well and come straight here.”

            “Oh no. But… you do have the mask on, and if you wash your hands…”

            She nodded, and accepted the phone, dialing her home number.

            As it turned out, Mama was home and more than willing to come pick her up. She also had the welcome news that she, Jii-chan and Souta had all gotten flu shots because it was predicted to be a very bad flu season due to major antigenic shifts in the virus that year. Unfortunately, Mama had seen Inuyasha but he’d already left for her school, carrying Yukio, so there was no way to tell him not to come.

_‘He’s probably already waiting for me on the roof…’_

            Mama said she would disinfect her bedroom then come get her. Kagome gave the phone back to Ayumi just as the nurse was returning with two doses of liquid flu medication. She took off her mask long enough to drink the medicine, then put it back on and washed her hands thoroughly.

            “My mom is on her way,” Ayumi said as she put away her phone.

            “Well, at least the exams are over,” she joked weakly.

            “The two of you should stay here until your mothers come for you,” the nurse suggested.

            “I have to go to my locker,” she replied. ‘ _And to the roof to tell my hanyou lover that he can’t touch me or come anywhere near me and he needs to get our baby away from here.’_

            “Alright, but come back here once you have your things.”

            “Thank you,” she answered and hurried out, sneaking up to the roof.

            Sure enough, Inuyasha was sitting with his back to the machine room wall with Yukio playing on his lap. The toddler smelled her before she even turned the corner, and she could hear his happy babblings in spoken words and inu-youkai.

            “Okaa-san! Okaa-san!” :Mother-female. Mother-female comes.:

_‘Damn… I hope Inuyasha doesn’t let him go so he can come running to me.’_

            “Don’t let him go!” she cried as she hurried to come into their view. “Don’t let him come to me!”

            “Eh? Why not?” Inuyasha asked before he could see her. “And why are you so early?” He stared at her when he saw her with the mask on her face. “What are you wearing that thing for?”

            He stood up and took a step forward.

            “STOP!” she yelled, putting her hands out. “You… you can’t come any closer.”

            “Huh?”

            “Okaa?” Yukio asked from his place in Inuyasha’s arms.

            “Listen to me, Inuyasha. You have to go back. You have to stay away from me.”

            “What are you babbling about, wench?”

            “I’m sick. I’ve been exposed to an illness you can get and spread to others. You can’t come anywhere near me until I’m better.”

            He snorted and Yukio mimicked him. “I’m a hanyou, wench. I don’t get sick.”

            “You might not, but Yukio’s at risk,” she countered. “You have to keep him away from me.”

            She saw him pause and think about what she was saying.

            “For how long?” he finally asked and she breathed a sigh of relief.

_‘He won’t risk the baby. Kami-sama he is such a good father.’_

            “I… I don’t know. A week at least.”

            “A  ** _week?!_** ” His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you aren’t making this up just so you can have more time here?”

            “Inuyasha! How dare you even  ** _think_**  that I would do such a thing, you baka!” she yelled, but was cut off by a coughing fit.

            Inuyasha immediately capitulated. “Alright! Alright! I believe you. Just please stop coughing.”

            “I’m trying,” she said between coughs.

            “Okaa-san?” Yukio called in a small voice, reaching out towards her.

            “I’m sorry, baby, but I can’t hug you. Okaa-san’s sick.”

            “Sick?” the toddler repeated.

            “Yes. It means Okaa-san must stay in bed and rest and not play. Like when Jubae wasn’t able to play with you that one time, remember? Because she had a fever.”

            :Mother-female go to den?:

            “Soon baby, but Otou-san is going to take you back to Kaede-obachan’s.”

            “NO!” Yukio cried.

            “Oi, pup! Whaddya mean ‘no?’ You’ll do as you’re told,” Inuyasha scolded.

            Yukio sniffled. “Otou… want Okaa-san…”

            “I’m sorry, baby,” she apologized. “Mama-baachan is coming to get me and I’m going to go home with her. She’ll make medicine for me and I’ll rest and get better.”

            Yukio would not be swayed. “Want Okaa-san,” he whined.

            “I know, baby. I know. But you can’t. Okaa-san will make you sick. Inuyasha take him back to Kaede’s, please. You should stay there too. I’ll come back when I’m better.”

            “You’ll be alright here?” he asked, his eyes showing a hint of concern.

            She nodded. “Yes. Mama is coming and I’ll go home with her. I have to get back downstairs. There are people who will come looking for me if I’m gone too long. You go back and I’ll come as soon as I can. I promise.”

            He looked reluctant to leave, a torn look on his face.

            “Inuyasha. If I’m sick, you have to take care of Yukio.”

            That did it. He steeled his face and gave her a quick nod. “I’ll come back to check on you once I have him settled.”

            Asking him not to do that was a lost cause so she just nodded.

            “I love you both and I’m sorry, but I can’t risk making either of you sick or bringing it with me to your time. What I have could decimate the whole village if they got it.”

            Inuyasha reacted to her last statement with alarm, but he did not say anything. Instead an odd look came to his face and he pulled a still protesting Yukio closer to his chest.

            “I will be back,” he assured her and leaped off.

            She sighed, already beginning to feel worse but glad that she was able to keep her family safe, and headed back down to the nurse’s office.

            By the time Mama came to get her and she was sequestered in her room, her temperature had risen and she was burning up. Within two hours of coming home, her fever climbed to 40° C and her mother put her in a cool bath to try to bring her temperature down. The cool water gave her the chills and she began to shake uncontrollably, even as the fever made her head spin.

            The bath brought her temperature down slightly to 39° C, and Mama put her back in bed and piled blankets on her. Even with five blankets and a comforter, she still shivered and shook with chills despite her fever, making her hot and cold at the same time. Mama gave her another dose of liquid flu medication and tried to get her to drink some fluids, but it was all she could do just to lift her head. She finally fell into a restless sleep sometime after nightfall only to be awakened by a thump on her window and a muffled curse.

             _‘Inuyasha’s back and he’s found the seals…’_  she thought.

            She’d used the last of her strength that afternoon to put wards on her window and door in order to prevent Inuyasha from coming into her room. Knowing her hanyou the way that she did, she knew that the seals would be the only thing that would keep him out. She didn’t like doing it, but she knew he would think himself immune and just come barging in.

             _‘Even if he doesn’t get sick, he could still carry it and infect others. Inuyasha, I’m sorry.’_

            There was another thump at her door, followed by another curse.

            “Oi! Kagome!” she heard him yell.

            She wanted to answer him, to explain why she’d locked him out, but she couldn’t find her voice. Thankfully, she didn’t have to because she heard Mama gently telling him what was going on.

            “Woman, what’s with the seals?”

            “Kagome is very sick, Inuyasha. She needs her rest.”

            “I’d let her sleep!” he countered indignantly.

            “And she’s very worried about spreading her sickness to you or the others in your time. She put the wards on her room to make sure you stayed away from her and couldn’t be infected.”

            “But I’m fine. I never get sick!”

            “You might not show any signs, but you could carry the sickness to your time and give it to others who would get sick. If that happened, it could be very bad. The sickness Kagome has used to kill a lot of people before we had medicines for it, and it still kills people today if they are weak and can’t fight off the infection. She didn’t want to take the risk,” she heard her mother explain patiently.

            There was silence, then Inuyasha asked softly, “How sick is she? What does she have?”

            “Why don’t you come with me? Kagome won’t rest if she can hear your voice and I have some medical books downstairs. I’ll make some ramen and you can read about her sickness, alright?”

            “Okay,” he finally said after a long pause.

            She felt the familiar tingle of his youki fade as he followed her mother, and she was very proud of him for not banging on the door and making a scene.

             _‘My Inuyasha is growing up,’_  she thought as sleep claimed her again.

            His youki returning roused her because she was always hyper-aware of him and she woke feeling worse than she had before. Her head was pounding and her whole body hurt all over. Not to mention the fact that she was drenched with sweat and  ** _still_**  shivering.

_‘Medicine’s worn off…’_

            The rustle of his clothes and the sound of his body sliding against the door told her that he’d taken up the ‘guard’ position outside her room, but this confused her because she didn’t know where Yukio was and she was worried about him. She tried to speak, but found that she couldn’t form words. Thankfully inu-youkai didn’t require a working voice box in order to speak it.

            :Leader-male,: she said faintly, knowing he would hear her.

            He was as hyper-aware of her as she was of him, and she knew he would be listening for the slightest sound from her. Sure enough, she heard him move immediately.

            “Kagome?”

            :Where pup?:

            “I left him with Kaede, and… don’t sit me, but the old woman and the houshi sealed him in the hut.”

_‘Sealed him? Oh I’ll bet **that**  went over well…’_

            :Pup stay in den?:

            “I had to. He would have tried to follow me if I hadn’t. Shippou went in with him so he’s not alone in there.

            :Danger to den.: It was the closest way she knew of saying she was concerned that Yukio would tear Kaede’s hut apart.

            “Bah, they can handle it. I told them to do what they had to do to subdue him and keep him safe.”

            :Danger to pack-members,: she warned.

            “He won’t hurt them. He knows what will happen if he does.”

             _‘He won’t stand for that. He’s probably terrified and screaming his head off. My poor baby.’_

            :Fear for pup.:

            “Pup’s fine. It’s you who aren’t. Kagome, how are you feeling?”

            :Hot. Cold. Hurts.:

            “Your mother let me read her books. This inn-flooo-enzaaa is very bad.”

            :Yes.:

            “It kills humans all the time.”

            :Yes,: she confirmed.

            “But she said you weren’t in any danger.”

            :No. Mother-female safe.:

            “I understand now why you were so worried about others getting it.”

            :Yes. Protect pack.:

            He sighed loud enough for her to hear. “That’s my Kagome, always thinking of others before herself.”

            :Mother-female loves pack. Loves pup. Loves leader-male. Mother-female keeps pack safe.:

            “I know.”

            :Hot. Cold. Need mother-female mother.: She was trying to convey to him that she needed her mom to bring her more medicine.

            “I’ll get her.”

            She heard him move and a few minutes later her mother came in with a cup of hot medicine and a mug of hot herbal tea.

            “The tea will help you sleep,” she said.

            She gave Mama a thankful nod and drank both cups. After she was finished, her mother helped her into some clean pajamas and back into bed. The medicine started working and she didn’t hurt so badly.

            “Your fever’s still high. If it’s still this high in the morning, I’m calling the doctor.”

            She gave a grunt of agreement and tucked her head under the covers. It had gotten to the point where even her  ** _scalp_** shivered. Her mother gave her a reassuring pat and left. A moment later, she heard Inuyasha settle his back against her door again.

            :Leader-male?:

            “I’m here. I won’t leave you,” came his soft voice through the door.

            :Hurts. Tired.:

            “Then get some rest. You won’t get better if you don’t rest.”

            :Yes.:

            She closed her eyes, feeling safe because he was there and succumbed to sleep.

            The next day, after sleeping almost fourteen hours straight, Mama brought her a mug of thick liquid she knew too well. Sometime during her rest, Inuyasha had gathered the ingredients and made his famous medicine for colds. Now that she knew what was in it, she curled up her nose, but she also remembered how well it had worked. She didn’t know what, if any, effect it would have on her flu, but she was feeling so poorly that she was willing to give it a try. Besides, if she didn’t drink it, Inuyasha would be offended and she didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful.

            Her fever had come down some but it was still hovering around 38° C. She took another bath, this one a little warmer and changed into clean pajamas while her mother stripped her bed, changed her sheets, and aired out and disinfected her room. She didn’t see Inuyasha, but she could feel his youki so she knew he was nearby. She heard him at the door just as soon as she was settled back in bed.

            “Inuyasha?” she whispered.

            “I’m here,” came his immediate answer.

            “Thank you for the medicine.”

            She heard him snort and could almost visualize his blush. “I’ve told you before that it’s nothing.”

            “Where were you just now?”

            “Downstairs with your brother and the old man. Your mom said it was safer for me to be down there.”

            “Have you seen Yukio?”

            “Yes. He’s fine. Hates me right now, but he’s fine.”

            “Does Kaede still have a hut?”

            “Yes, but he smashed some of her buckets and almost burned it down by throwing stuff in the fire pit.”

            “Oh no. Is everyone alright?”

            She heard him sigh. “Yeah, but…”

_‘Oh-oh. I don’t like the sound of his voice…’_

            “Inuyasha? Did something else happen?”

            “Yeah.” His voice was sad and tired.

            “What was it?”

            “I… I lost my temper with him.”

_‘Oh no…’_

            “You did? What did you do?”

            “It was after I found out that he’d almost burned the hut down. He or Shippou or both of them could have been seriously hurt before anyone got to them if someone hadn’t been there.”

_‘I probably would have lost my temper over something like that too.’_

            “I don’t blame you for being upset. What did you do to him?”

            He hesitated, then replied slowly, “I… I spanked him.”

_‘Spanked him? Inuyasha’s never raised his hand to Yukio…’_

            “I’m sure you didn’t hurt him,” she assured him.

            “His bottom was all red. I gave him five good swats.”

 _‘Only five?’_ “I’m sure that got his attention.”

            “Yeah. I just hated doing it. Sesshoumaru used to… do that, just to humiliate me with a human punishment.”

_‘Oh… But I bet he gave you more than five swats; probably a lot more…’_

            “I understand, but I think you did the right thing. If pinning him or scruffing him wasn’t working, then you had to do something else. What he did was very dangerous and, you’re right, they could have been badly hurt and Kaede could have lost her hut.”

            “I guess. He screamed and the villagers thought I was killing him. Kaede was the one who had to tell them he was just being punished.”

_‘And that probably hurt you more than anything.’_

            “I’m sure it was hard for you.”

            “Yeah,” he admitted.

            “I miss you,” she told him suddenly.

            “I miss you too. Are you feeling any better?”

            “A little. I still have a fever and I still hurt, but it’s not as bad as it was. I’m tired though.”

            “Then you should sleep.”

            “I shouldn’t be contagious for much longer, then you can bring Yukio back here.”

            “One day before symptoms start and 5 days after is what the book said.”

            “Five days? Oh…” she answered sadly.  _‘Five more days until I can see Inuyasha and Yukio again.’_

            “It’ll be alright. What’s important is that you get better.”

            “Yeah.”

            “You should get some sleep. I’ll still be here when you wake.”

            “Okay.”

            She huddled under the covers and snuggled into her pillow, imagining that it was Inuyasha she was holding, and fell asleep. When she woke twelve hours later, it was to a pair of concerned golden eyes looking down at her.

            “Inuyasha!” she gasped hoarsely, alarmed to see him in her room, then realized he was wearing a surgical mask. He was also dressed in his sweat pants and, to her dismay, a red Big Dog shirt she had bought for him and planned to surprise him with. She had taken black fabric paint and written “I’m the” in kanji on the shirt so it said “I’m the Big Dog” half in Japanese and half in English.

            “Your mother said it would be okay for me to come in if I wore these clothes and put this thing on my face. I’m supposed to wash my hands if I touch you too,” he explained.

            “Why did she let you in?” she whispered, her throat dry and scratchy.

            He looked away. “The old man kept tripping over me on the way to the bathroom.”

            She managed a small smile as he put his hand on her forehead.

            “You still have a fever,” he said with a frown.

            She nodded. She was still sweating and shivering, and she still hurt all over. Unfortunately, she also had to urinate rather badly.

            “I have to go to the bathroom.”

            He nodded. “I’ll call for your mother,” he said, getting up.

            Mama helped her to the bathroom and then got her into yet another set of clean pajamas because the ones she was wearing were soaked with sweat.

            “He was fretting so much and Jii-chan banged into him twice,” Mama explained. “I felt it was safe as long as he wore the mask and put on clean clothes.”      

            “It’s okay, Mama. I sleep better if he’s there anyway.” 

            Her mother nodded and said nothing.

            She saw that he’d opened the window to let in some air, but closed it to cut off the draft when she came back in. Mama gave her another dose of medicine and Inuyasha made her drink a glass of water, then both he and her mother tucked her back into bed, arranging the blankets and fluffing her pillows, and she found how they fussed over her like two mother hens highly amusing. Once she was settled, her mother left and Inuyasha sat with his back against her bed. She fell asleep to the feel of his hand rubbing her leg.

            She woke briefly in the middle of the night to see a black-haired human Inuyasha keeping vigil by her bed. Mentally she wondered how she had lost track of the days and forgotten that tonight was the new moon, but figured her illness gave her enough of an excuse. He looked silly sitting there in modern clothes with Tessaiga leaning against his shoulder and the surgical mask tied around his face, but she was smart enough not to let him know that.

            She stayed awake long enough to go to the bathroom, take more medicine and drink another glass of water. Inuyasha helped her through all of it, his touch warm and gentle, and she wanted desperately to cuddle with him and, oddly, make love. She didn’t know how she could possibly want him because she was feeling terrible and exhausted, but her body tingled at his touch and for once she was thankful that he didn’t have his hanyou nose, otherwise he would have smelled her arousal.

            He got her back into bed and she sent him on a conjured up errand to make her some eggs and tea which gave her enough time to quickly take care of her problem before he got back. As soon as she was finished, lonely though it may have been to be by herself, she realized that the release actually made her feel somewhat better and she was glad she had given in to the urge. By the time Inuyasha got back with the eggs and tea, she was half-asleep. She roused herself enough to eat the food and thank him before she rolled over, tucked herself under her blankets and conked out.

            Her fever finally broke in the morning, and she spent the next three days coughing and aching with Inuyasha fretting and worrying over her. The longer her sickness dragged on, even though she assured him that she was getting better, the more he fussed and hovered. But she did have to give him credit for his understanding and patience. In all the times he helped her dress and undress, he never once touched her intimately or even hinted at anything untoward. This of course only meant that she would really be in for it when she was up to making love again, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to mind too much.

            Her illness also hammered the final nail into Yukio’s weaning coffin as her milk dried up completely during her convalescence. She knew he’d be terribly upset but there really wasn’t anything she could do. Her body had no choice but to re-route resources towards fighting the virus raging inside of her, and her milk was one of the functions that was sacrificed for the good of the cause. Her son was still confined in Kaede’s hut, although Inuyasha did go to see him every day, and they both agreed to bring him just as soon as the danger of contagious illness was over.

            The aftermath of the flu wiped her out, and she spent long hours sleeping, only to wake up coughing. Her mother had arranged pillows so that she could sleep sitting up, and that helped a little. Her cough was more bark than bite, but she knew every time she went into another fit it distressed Inuyasha terribly. He hated to hear her struggling to breathe, and felt helpless when nothing he did made it any better. She remembered from the last time she had been sick how her cough had affected him. If there was one thing that had made him fret and blanch, it was the sound of her coughing. The fever, chills and sweating were of obvious concern to him, but her cough always made his eyes go wide and his face turn a little paler.

            It struck her that she didn’t know how his mother had died, but his reaction to her illness made her wonder if Izayoi had died of a coughing illness. If that was the case, then the fear of her cough came from Inuyasha’s old memories of his mother and part of him still associated coughing with death. She tried to console him, to reassure him that she was in no danger of getting worse or dying, and while she knew he understood that she was going to be fine, a nameless fear still lurked behind his eyes that she could not make go away.

            “What am I going to do with you, koishii? You cough and cough, and you tell me you’re getting better but I can hear the rattle in your lungs,” his whispered voice filtered down into her half-conscious brain.

            It had been four days and she was still exhausted from just breathing.

_‘Koishii? Did he just call me beloved?’_

            A tender hand brushed the hair from her sweaty brow and she pretended to remain asleep.

            “You humans are so fragile. How did you ever take over the world? You must have done it by numbers alone because you’re no match for the strength and power of a youkai.”

            He sighed and she did her best to stay very still.

            “And you die so quickly. My life will have barely begun when yours is over. You will be old and gray before I even reach full maturity, and you won’t live to see our pups grow into full adults. What will we do without you? What will I do without you? Every day I fall for you more deeply and more hopelessly, but I know our time together will be so short compared to the years I will have to live alone. I don’t know how I will stand the pain of your loss. Will I follow you in death, or will I spend my long life searching for your reincarnation so that we can be together again?”

_‘I… I never knew he thought about these things. All this time, I have been worried about the well sealing or Kikyou taking him away from me, but Inuyasha… I know I’ll never have to live without him, but he… he’ll live for centuries. He’ll have to go on when I am long dead.’_

            For a moment she felt such sorrow for him. No matter how long she lived, he was still doomed to lose her because her lifespan would never match his. For all the years and time they would have together, his hair would still be silver and his face still young when her bones had disintegrated into dust. It seemed so unfair and horribly tragic. How did he stand knowing that he would live for hundreds of years after her death?

            “But I can’t think about these things. You would think it so strange for me to have deep thoughts and I would hurt you with things you have no power to change.”

_‘He’s right. I’d hurt for him and not for me; hurt for my hanyou who found love with a human only to lose her to Time. Oh my Inuyasha. My poor Inuyasha.’_

            She made a show of muttering and was shocked to feel his mask-covered lips kiss her brow.

            “Shhhhh, Kagome. Sleep. You don’t cough when you sleep.”

_‘I’m sorry, koi, but after that… I can’t sleep anymore.’_

            She roused slowly, inwardly smiling at his attempts to get her to go back to sleep. He shushed and petted her hair, trying to soothe her, but his attempts were in vain as another coughing fit ripped its way out of her throat. She saw his eyes cloud and knew he was frowning under the mask, as he helped support her and patted her back.

            “I wish you’d stop coughing,” he admitted.

            She looked at him and gave him a weak smile. “Me too.”

_‘He doesn’t know I heard him. Maybe that’s for the best. He would just get embarrassed and try to pick a fight.’_

            “Could you get Mama? I need more medicine.”

            He smiled at her and nodded, standing immediately and going to get her mother. She watched him go.

_‘I don’t know what I can do, but I promise I’ll make what time we do have together memorable enough to last you a hundred lifetimes, Inuyasha. At least until we can find each other again.’_

            In the end Kagome was bed-ridden for ten days, and spent the next week recovering. Inuyasha brought Yukio to her as soon as they were certain she was no longer contagious, and the toddler- traumatized by his ordeal of being forced away from her and sealed in the old miko’s hut- clung to her so tightly that she nicknamed him her ‘Velcro baby.’ There was a new wariness of Inuyasha in his eyes as well, a shade that came into them whenever his father first approached. She knew Yukio’s fear of him hurt Inuyasha and she was glad when the fear faded after a few days of things being back to ‘normal.’

            Although she tried to listen carefully every time he thought she was asleep, nothing was ever said about his whispered words that one morning and he didn’t repeat them. She even thought she might have dreamed that he had called her his beloved because she couldn’t imagine him letting such a thing slip, but then she decided that it couldn’t have been a dream because she had heard everything he had said afterwards. Knowing that he had said it, even though he thought she couldn’t hear him, made her heart glad and she contented herself with the hope that one day he would say them to her willingly while she was awake.

            There was no real rush to return to the Sengoku Jidai because the weather there still restricted travel, but concern for how her friends were faring during the harsh winter spurred her on and gave her an incentive to get better as soon as possible. Under Inuyasha’s watchful eye and her mother’s tender care, she regained the weight she had lost during her illness and built up her strength.

            Almost three weeks to the day after she had fallen ill, she, Inuyasha and Yukio returned to the Sengoku Jidai to be with their friends and to resume the life they had made for each other there.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

            The good thing about winter was that it always ended. Eight weeks after the first cold snap, the snow melted and the temperatures crept higher, opening the roads and making life much more pleasant; especially for Inuyasha who had insisted that Kaede spend the coldest of the winter nights with them in the den. By virtue of it being underground, the den was always a steady 12° C with very little variation. So even when the temperatures outside were below freezing, the interior of the den was warm, and could be made very cozy and comfortable with the addition of a small fire.

            Inuyasha had fretted over the old miko’s health and welfare in the cold, and he had practically forced her to stay with them in the den at night. After the first two nights of sleeping in the warmth and deceptive comfort of the underground shelter, Kaede no longer argued when Inuyasha came to get her. The soft bed and cozy space did wonders for easing the ache in her bones and joints, and Inuyasha half expected her to ask for a den of her own.

            With the coming of Spring, Kagome saw the renewed restlessness come to her beloved. It telegraphed itself into his impatience and wanderlust… and other lusts. The normal bio-rhythms of the mating season hit her adult hanyou like a sledgehammer and she bore the brunt of his raging libido. There were days when he didn’t let her leave the den for anything other than a bathroom break, and every time she thought he’d reached the peak of his sexual endurance, he surprised her by proving her wrong. She only hoped that he would calm down once the summer arrived, otherwise no shard hunts would ever be completed because she’d be too tired to stand up let alone travel anywhere.

            Other than getting pounced on by an amorous hanyou what seemed like every five minutes, but what was probably more like every few hours, her life was going well. Yukio was seventeen months old and he had been with them for fifteen of those months. He was talking even more and fully mobile now; able to run, climb and jump which he did as much as possible- usually with one of them chasing after him and screaming his name. He idolized his father and adored his mother, and almost everyone was wrapped around his little clawed finger with few exceptions. He had almost free run of the little village and could be seen exercising his wandering, independent soul all around town, as was evidenced by the number of times Inuyasha had had to pluck him off a hut roof or snatch him away from a charging bull.

            Both parents were hard pressed to keep up with him, and Inuyasha actually ventured to suggest leashing him or fitting him with his own set of prayer beads that would transport him back to his mother instead of subduing him the way his father’s binding beads did. He lasted on the leash all of half a day, and Kagome was afraid to try the beads because she worried the transport spell wouldn’t take obstacles into account, and accidentally slam her son into a hut or tree or other solid object as it yanked him back to her.

            The  ** _threat_**  of the leash or the binding beads, however, worked wonders to improve Yukio’s behavior. The leash was a humiliation worse than a spanking and he would do anything to avoid being tethered. Seeing his indignant rage and resentment at being controlled, Kagome seriously considered freeing Inuyasha from his bindings. It seemed horribly unfair to her for Inuyasha to have them, and be bound by the subduing spell when she refused to do the same to her son. He really didn’t need them anymore and she wanted to prove to him that she trusted him implicitly. She could think of no better way to prove her faith, love and trust in him than to remove the beads she thought he hated and resented so much. She left them on, however, at the adult hanyou’s request.

            Upon speaking with Inuyasha about his beads, he’d actually expressed distress at her suggestion that she take them off. He’d clutched them in his hands and looked at her as if she’d just threatened to steal his most prized possession. It was then that she realized that for Inuyasha, the beads symbolized his connection to her and he had no desire to be rid of them. He had argued that she had used the beads to save him more than once, and that the subduing spell worked wonders when his temper got the better of him and he really needed to sit and think things through a little more thoroughly. He recognized that he was still a little too hot-headed and often acted before he should. Having the beads to bring him down when he went haring off was a comfort more than a curse.

            He had also made the case that the beads could be used to protect her should he transform into his youkai form and go berserk. She didn’t bother to remind him that when he was in his youkai form, the spell didn’t work because he simply couldn’t hear her over the rush of the demon blood in his ears. In fact, after the first time he lost control of his youkai blood, she’d never used the subduing spell to bring him down again.

            Regardless of his reasons, it was painfully obvious that he did not want to be free of the beads, so she left them. What she did do, though, was vow never to abuse them or use them to punish him undeservedly. It amazed her how much his disposition had improved now that they were so intimate and close. It was as if having her to love and be with brought out a side of Inuyasha that he had never shown before. While still irritating, abrasive and often reckless, much of his hurtful behavior had stopped and she found herself not needing to subdue him in order to get her point across. In fact, she rarely sat him more than a couple of times a month nowadays for minor infractions. His mouth, however, was still a problem, although she was considering it a lost cause. Besides Yukio was already imitating his father’s bad habit of saying whatever was on his mind, in whatever language came to mind.

            In truth, Yukio was too much like his father for Kagome’s liking, and for all that Inuyasha was not the boy’s biological sire, he was really proving to her that, while nature certainly shaped personality to some extent,  ** _nurture_** was the driving force in child development. Her son was proud, stubborn and obstinate as hell, but also sweet, happy and very affectionate. Because his life was safe, secure and loving, he wasn’t developing the tough defense mechanisms Inuyasha had created in order to survive the hardships he had had to endure. In many ways Kagome saw in Yukio what Inuyasha could have been if Izayoi or his father had lived to raise him, and it made her somewhat sad, but Inuyasha always shoved her pitying thoughts away when she spoke of them, saying that he was fine and to be glad Yukio was so lucky to have them. It didn’t stop her from wishing Inuyasha’s life had been different, though, and she promised to make his life as lucky as Yukio’s from now on.

            “Okaa-san, Otou-san,” Yukio said, popping his head back into the den.

            Inuyasha was the first to rouse from the rumpled bed and he blinked at his son as Kagome rolled over.

            “Eh? Pup what are you doing out there?”

            “Yukio baby, did you leave the den while we were sleeping?” Kagome asked.

            “Yukio go outside,” he said simply, using his term for going out to relieve himself, and hopped down into the bedcovers to join them.

            Inuyasha rubbed his son’s ears and gave him a proud smile. “Good pup.”

            Yukio beamed back, then sniffed and sniffed again, his little nose screwing up. “Kussee,” he complained, holding his nose.

            “Oi!”

            Kagome just giggled. “I guess it is a little ripe in here. We should open the door and let the den air out.

            Inuyasha sniffed. “Smells fine in here to me. Smells like us and…” He gave her a wicked leer. “… all the fun we’re having.”

            Kagome groaned. “In the meantime, no one wants to watch our little bundle of irrepressible energy and he’s bored to tears.”

            “Feh, everyone spoils him. He needs to learn patience.”

            She raised one eyebrow, “This from Mr. I-Don’t-Care-if-I’m-Human-and-Powerless-I’m-Going-Out-To-Fight-Anyway. You’re one to talk about learning patience.”

            “Funny, you weren’t complaining about my ability to wait a couple of hours ago,” he commented, giving her a smug wink.

            She threw a pillow at him. “Hentai. Anyway, I don’t blame him for not wanting to stay cooped up in here with us. Besides, I need to go out myself.”

            Inuyasha rolled to his back and put his hands under his head. “Humph, I guess I’ll let you.”

            “Let me, huh? Oh thank you for giving me permission to go outside, oh exalted one,” she said dourly.

            “Heh. I like that. Say it again.”

            “What part?”

            “The ‘exalted one’ bit. Say that.”

            “You sure?”  _‘So you wanna be a chauvinistic pig, huh? I’ll show you…’_

            “Yeah.”

            “Osuwari.”

            Since he was already lying down, the beads didn’t take him far, but they did flip him over onto his face.

            “Gah!”

_‘Humph, I swear you do it on purpose because you **want**  me to sit you. I know I promised not to abuse the beads, but that was just too blatant to ignore.’_

            Yukio giggled. “Otou-san go splat.”

            Inuyasha just growled but that only made Yukio giggle more. Kagome gathered up some clothes and slipped into them, then turned to the toddler.

            “Baby wanna come with Okaa-san?”

            Yukio clapped his hands and reached for her. “Okaa! Okaa! Yukio come!”

            “Okay, get on my back then.”

            He didn’t need to be told twice and hopped right up onto her back, holding onto her shoulder. She took him out of the den and first went to their latrine, then down to the stream.

            “Okaa-san needs to wash. Yukio want a bath too?” she asked when they arrived at their bathing spot.

            Yukio immediately jumped down, his eyes wide.

            “No! Cold! Cold! Cold!”

            She laughed as she disrobed and slid into the water. “This from a baby that ran around barefoot in the snow this winter.”

            Yukio looked around. “Snow? Where snow? No snow,” he replied with disappointment.

            Kagome snickered and dunked her head under the water as Yukio sat cross-legged on the stream bank. He looked just like a miniature version of Inuyasha, complete with hands folded into the sleeves of his blue haori. Inuyasha kept saying he’d have to have fire rat clothes made for the boy, but he needed to find a nest of the youkai rats first, then he needed to find someone who knew how to turn the hides into clothing. Inuyasha’s father had commissioned the clothes he wore and he had been presented with the haori, kimono and hakama for his birthday one year. The clothing had been with him ever since and had adjusted to fit him as he grew because they were linked to his youki and practically indestructible.

            Considering how hard hanyou children were on their clothing, fire rat and youkai made garments were probably the only clothes that would last more than a few weeks, but since fire rats were rare and youkai tailors even rarer, having a set of the protective clothes made for Yukio was probably going to be no small task. Kagome had no doubts, however that somehow Inuyasha would see it done, and Yukio would have his own set of blazing red clothes before too long. Then he  ** _really_**  would look exactly like his father.

            She kept her head under the water for longer than Yukio was comfortable with and she smiled to herself when she saw him peering worriedly down into the pool.

            “Okaa-san! Okaa-san!” he cried.

            With a burst of speed, she leaped up and splashed him.

            “Gotchya!”

            Yukio screamed then started laughing even as he got wet. Kagome grabbed him and held him over the water.

            “Oh no, I’m gonna drop you! Oh you’re so heavy!” she teased.

            “No! No! No!” he yelled, but he was still laughing.

            She threatened to drop him a few times, always catching him at the last second. His squeals of delight filled the surrounding forest and she laughed with him.

            “What is all this ruckus?!” Inuyasha groused. He was fully dressed and looked a little peeved about it. “I heard screaming and I thought there was trouble. Instead I find a wet human and an almost wet pup.”

            “Otou! Otou! Save Yukio!” the toddler begged, reaching for his father.

            Kagome grinned and tossed Yukio over to Inuyasha. “Catch the pup!”

            “Wheeeeeeee!!!”

            The adult hanyou snatched him up easily and swung him around, eliciting more squeals of delight from the hanyou toddler.

            “I swear pup, are you sure your father wasn’t part bird-youkai? You just love the wind in your ears.”

            “Again! Again!” Yukio pleaded.

            Kagome smiled and finished her bath as Inuyasha tossed Yukio into the air repeatedly. When she was finished, she dressed and made to head for the village.

            “Oi! Where do you think you’re going?” Inuyasha demanded.

            “Down to see how Kaede and our friends are doing. You remember them, right?”

            “Bah! They’re fine. Nothing smells wrong. Let’s go back to the den.”

            “I’d rather walk and stretch my legs a bit… and if you make one comment about other ways I can stretch my legs I  ** _will_**  make you eat dirt,” she warned.

            He gave a little whine that told her that was  ** _exactly_**  what he was thinking of saying, and she had to suppress a smile.

            “Besides, our son is well and truly awake now, and you know I don’t do anything in front of him.”

            “Feh,” he snorted and Yukio mimicked him, even as he followed her down to the village, grumbling under his breath all the way.

            “Inuyasha-sama! Kagome-sama!” Myouga greeted, leaping onto Inuyasha’s nose as they entered Kaede’s hut. The flea servant had arrived at the beginning of spring after safe travel from Toutousai’s forge was possible. He’d come to confirm the rumors of Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha and Tenseiga for the youkai sword smith and had stayed. Both Inuyasha and Kagome figured he would stick around until there was trouble then disappear again.

            Yukio did the honors and slapped the flea-youkai off his father. “Go ‘way, jiji.”

             _‘Jiji? When did he start calling Myouga ‘jiji’?’_  she thought with an exasperated sigh.

            “Oi. Whaddya want, Myouga-jiji?” Inuyasha groused.

             _‘So that’s when,’_  she said dourly to herself.

            “Nothing Inuyasha-sama. It has just been a while since we have seen you,” the flea youkai replied, hopping up onto Kagome’s shoulder.

            Inuyasha snorted. “It hasn’t been that long.”

            “No one in the village has seen you for two days.”

            Inuyasha grinned. “Well, I’ve been busy, Jiji. Why? Is there trouble coming? You gonna run away again?”

            “Inuyasha. Kagome,” Kaede said, calling their attention to where she and Miroku were sitting with two of the village men.

            “Ah, Inuyasha-sama,” one of the men greeted.

            Kagome could see her lover trying to put a name to his face and coming up blank.

            “Asaki,” she whispered loud enough for hanyou ears.

            He gave a grunt of acknowledgement. “Asaki.”

            “The other is Taro,” she supplied again.

            “Taro,” he repeated, nodding to the other man.

            The first man, Asaki, approached and smiled at Yukio. “And Yukio-sama grows bigger every day.”

            Yukio sniffed at him, mumbling in inu-youkai, :Pack-male.:

            “I swear he has grown so much while we were on our journey and we were only gone three weeks. He is the size of my Yumi when she was two summers old.”

            Inuyasha gave a small smile of paternal pride. “Hanyou pups grow fast.”

            “So I am told. My Masumi told me he was chasing the oxen.”

            Inuyasha rolled his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. But he won’t do that anymore. We’ve threatened to leash him if he tries that again,” he replied, glaring at Yukio.

            Yukio’s eyes opened wide and he flattened his ears as he put his fist in his mouth. :Pup good!: he insisted.

            Kagome moved to take her son because it looked like the men had come to talk to Inuyasha. He reached for her, eager to get away from a possible leashing.

            “No leash Yukio,” he whined as she cuddled him to her shoulder.

            “No leash if you’re good,” she reassured him, rubbing his ears.

            Yukio sighed and snuggled against her. “Ears…” he breathed.

            “Mmm-hmmm, Okaa knows you like your ears rubbed.”

            Yukio looked at her head, his hand coming up to touch her ear. “Okaa-san ears funny.” He reached up and touched his own ears. “Yukio ears like Otou-san ears.”

            She giggled and nuzzled him. “That just makes your and Otou-san’s ears special.”

            “You should learn to mind your manners, Yukio-sama!” Myouga scolded, hopping up and down on her shoulder as the toddler looked at him.

            Yukio watched the flea-youkai bounce a few times then snatched him between two fingers the way he’d seen his father do and squished him. Myouga let out a little squeak and fell to the hut floor. Kagome tried very hard not laugh and gave her son a glare.

            “Ohhh, Inuyasha-sama, the boy is definitely your son...” Myouga whimpered, collapsing on his back.

            :Bad pup.: “That was very rude.”

            Yukio cringed.

            “You apologize to Myouga-jiichan this instant.”

            Yukio peered down at the floor. “Yukio sorry, Jiji.”

            Myouga didn’t answer. Kagome just sighed in defeat and gave up.

            “I’m glad you joined us, Inuyasha. I was about to send someone looking for you,” Miroku commented, drawing her attention away from her son.

            “Heh! Know better than to do it yourself, eh bouzu?” Inuyasha replied with a glint in his eyes.

            Miroku gave him a knowing look and motioned for them to sit.

            “These men have just returned from Kōtsuke,” he told them seriously.

             _‘Kōtsuke? That’s north of here,’_  she thought as she sat down with Yukio in her lap.

            “Yeah, so what? What’s that got to do with me and Kagome?” Inuyasha demanded, sitting down next to her.

            “They bring some interesting news with them of their travels.”

            Both men nodded vigorously as they sat down as well. “There is a terrible beast that hunts the trade roads. Many samurai have been sent to kill it, but none have returned alive. The daimyos are combining their resources to wage war upon the monster,” Taro said.

            “Hmmm, a possible shard?” Inuyasha answered, his ears twitching with interest.

             _‘Well, a shard hunt will get us out of the den at least…_ ’ she mused.

            Miroku nodded. “That is my belief, but there is more. Asaki, tell Inuyasha the rest.”

            “One of the daimyos sent a messenger to the holy temple of Zenko-ji in Shi Nano. There is word of a shrine maiden of great spiritual power who can be found there, and the daimyo wishes to enlist her help in slaying the beast,” Asaki said.

             _‘A shrine maiden of great spiritual power?’_  she thought, her blood suddenly growing cold.  _‘Could it be Kikyou?’_

            She looked at Inuyasha but his face had gone unreadable.

             _‘If it is Kikyou, what is she doing at Zenko-ji? That’s in what will be Nagano ... in another few hundred years.’_

            “Did you see this miko?” Inuyasha asked carefully.

            Both men shook their heads. “The daimyo had only just sent messengers once the mountain passes opened up and they had yet to return,” Taro replied.

            “Kōtsuke, you said?” the adult hanyou questioned.

            Kagome’s heart sank even further into her stomach.  _‘We’re going. Well, of course we are. Inuyasha won’t pass up a shard hunt…’_

            “Yes, along the trade road,” Taro confirmed.

            “We know that you and Kagome-sama seek to gather all of the Shikon shards, Inuyasha-sama, so we came here immediately to tell you this news,” Asaki added.

            Inuyasha nodded. “We’ll leave in the morning.”

             _‘At least he’s not insisting on going alone. But if it **is**  Kikyou and we run into her, what will we do? What will Inuyasha do? Kikyou’s been gone for over a year.’_

            “Okaa?” Yukio asked, turning worried eyes her way.

_‘He feels my distress.’_

            “Okaa’s okay baby,” she comforted.

            The village men stood and bowed. “We must go greet our families and prepare the goods we traded for. We brought back fabric, paper, and some metal for smelting,” Taro said.

            “We may even have traded for some candy,” Asaki added, winking at Yukio and smiling as his little ears perked up at the word ‘candy.’

            “I don’t know. Only good pups who know their manners should have candy,” she answered, giving Yukio a hard look.

            “Yukio good! Yukio learn manners!”

            “You promise?”

            He nodded vigorously and she smiled. “Okay.”

            Yukio grinned and hugged her.

            “Come to our hut this evening. We’ll probably have it unpacked by then,” Asaki told her.

            She nodded. “Thank you.”

            With a final bow, both men left and Miroku turned to Inuyasha. “You are thinking the miko he speaks of is Kikyou?”

            Inuyasha gave her a little worried glance then nodded. “Yeah.”

            “That is Kaede-sama and my belief as well.”

            “Inuyasha, what do you intend to do if this miko is Kikyou-onee-sama?” Kaede asked bluntly.

            Kagome winced.  _‘Ah, so straightforward. I know you’re concerned about me but trying to pin him down like that will only make things worse.’_

            “I don’t know,” he replied just as bluntly.

            “Well, at least you’re being honest about it,” Miroku said. “Do you want me to come with you?”

            Inuyasha shook his head. “No. You stay here with Sango and… your pup.”

            His voice had faltered before he’d said ‘your pup’ and the hesitation was not lost on her.

_‘He’s worried.’_

            “I will accompany Inuyasha-sama. I do not like to leave his side,” Myouga added sagely.

            Both Kagome and Inuyasha gave him incredulous looks.

            “Is that so?” Inuyasha commented.

            “You will take Kirara with you too. I am assuming Kagome-sama and Yukio will be going as well?” Miroku said.

            “Yes,” she replied before Inuyasha had a chance to answer.  _‘If you think you’re leaving us behind, Inuyasha, you’ve got another thing coming.’_

            Miroku nodded. “I thought as much. Are you certain you don’t want me to come along?”

            “Your place is with your family, monk. Stay where you belong,” Inuyasha answered a little roughly.

 _‘And where is your place, Inuyasha? Will you stay where you belong?’_  she wondered with no small amount of concern.

            Yukio, picking up on the change in mood in the room, started to fret.

            “Okaa?”

            She shushed him and bounced him lightly on her knee. “It’s fine, baby. Okaa’s fine.”

            Her son looked at her, then at his father and then back to her again. He blinked and raised one eyebrow, an expression that was highly amusing on a child his age, but she had to hold in her laughter because she knew he was being serious.

            “Okaa-san sad,” he said simply, chewing on one fist.

            None of the adults in the hut had any answer or comfort for him, and when he looked to his father, Inuyasha looked away which made him even  ** _more_**  upset.

            :Leader-male?:

            :Be still, pup,: came the stern answer, which did nothing to placate him.

            :Pup good!!:

            Kagome petted his hair and ears. “I know, baby. We know you’ve been good. We’re not upset with you.”

            :Mother-female loves pup.:

            Yukio whined and burrowed his face into her chest. She wrapped arms around him and pulled him close.

            “We love you, baby.”

            “Do you wish to leave him here with us for the evening?” Miroku offered.

            “No,” Inuyasha answered immediately. “The pup stays with us.”

            There was something in his voice, in the timbre of his words that told her he was just as upset as she was.

            “Very well. It was just an offer,” the monk said.

            Inuyasha nodded. “He wouldn’t want to stay with you right now anyway, and you’d have to seal him to make him. I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”

             _‘No, definitely not. He thinks we’re upset with him. To force him away from us would only traumatize him and make him think we’re rejecting him from the pack,’_ she thought in agreement.

            “I agree,” Miroku spoke before she could say anything.

            Inuyasha abruptly stood, his hands hanging limply at his sides. “I want to go back to the den.”

            She stood up with him, holding Yukio close. “I should probably go through the well and get supplies for our trip.”

            He nodded. “Later.”

            His voice brooked no argument so she gave none.

_‘He either wants comfort sex or he wants to talk. Knowing him, he’ll want both.’_

            “I will let Sango and Shippou know of your plans. Kirara will join you as always, but I suspect Shippou will want to come along as well,” the monk said.

            “He watches the pup for us,” Inuyasha confirmed.

            “So you will come to our hut before you leave?”

            Inuyasha nodded. “Yeah. We’ll come in the morning.”

            “I will be there too,” Myouga said.

            Miroku looked at them, a small smile gracing his lips. “We will leave you alone until then. I am sure you have a lot of… plans and preparations to make.”

            The very fact that he didn’t rise to take Miroku’s bait was proof that Inuyasha wasn’t in the best of moods. He merely nodded, then put one hand under her elbow and urged her out of the hut. She barely had time to say good-bye to Kaede before he was practically pushing her through the doorway.

            “I’ll see you later Kaede-obaachan,” she assured the old miko as she was ushered past the reed door.  

            Kaede clucked and chuckled. “Of course, child. I’ll have a traveling medicine bundle ready for you.”

            “Thank you!” she called as Inuyasha gripped her arm a little tighter and gave her a light pull.

            Inuyasha was silent as they walked back to the den and she was afraid to speak. The look on his face was one of grim determination and deep thought; two expressions that marred his handsome features and made the cold settle even more into her gut. Poor Yukio was so rattled that he’d transformed into “Velcro Baby” and dug his little claws into her shirt, refusing to be dislodged even after they had reached the safety and comfort of the den. It wasn’t until he had been soothed, coddled and placated that he finally stopped whimpering and clinging, and let go.

            Inuyasha gathered them both to him, his arm around her shoulder as he tucked his son against his chest, and held them close. His tight embrace wasn’t what she was expecting, and she couldn’t even begin to guess what was going on inside his head. She wanted to ask him what he was thinking and to offer what little comfort she could, but his silence made her worried and she feared his reaction should she say the wrong thing.

             “Do you… do you want to go with me to my time and have us stay overnight there?” she asked finally.

            “No,” he answered softly. “I’ll… I’ll go with you, but I want to come back and spend the night here in the den.”

            “Alright.”

            They fell silent again and Inuyasha tucked his face into her hair, breathing in and out slowly. Kagome knew him well enough to know that he was getting his feelings under control, and preparing to close himself off the way he always did when presented with an emotional challenge. She didn’t want him to pull away from her and leave her feeling abandoned. She was worried enough about the possibility that Kikyou wouldn’t release Inuyasha from his promise that the last thing she wanted was for him to shut her out.

            “What do you want to do?” she asked, her voice loud in the silence.

            “I don’t know. I… I just want to be with you and the pup right now. No one else.”

            “Okay.”

            She snuggled close and petted her son’s hair. He was tucked against his father’s chest, his little head nestled under Inuyasha’s chin, and he was doing his best to stay quiet and still. He knew his parents were unhappy and didn’t know what to do, so he opted to do what his instincts were telling him and make himself as unnoticeable as possible.

            “He’s upset,” she said, hoping to use Yukio as a way of keeping Inuyasha from shutting them out.

            “I know. Pup doesn’t understand.”

             _‘Neither do I,’_  she thought sadly.

            They stayed that way until Yukio fell asleep. Then Kagome put him carefully in his bed so as not to wake him and turned her attention to comforting her adult hanyou. Normally she didn’t initiate sex unless her libido was increased because of her heat cycle, and she usually didn’t have to even then because he initiated lovemaking almost every night. But now he seemed shy and uncertain, and she thought he might be feeling insecure. Kikyou always managed to drive a wedge between them, and he might think asking for attention under the current circumstances would get him refused.

            Her suspicions were confirmed when he relaxed and sighed with relief as she kissed him, and wrapped his arms around her.

            “Kagome…” he breathed and the desperation in his voice told her everything she needed to know. He was scared and worried, and he needed her to be the strong one because he didn’t know what was going to happen any more than she did.

            Their lovemaking was slow and gentle, almost reverent, and he took her with such love and tenderness that she thought he was trying to tell her how much he loved her before he had to say goodbye. She cried afterwards and he licked her tears away, whining softly in a way that she had never heard him do before. Yukio woke up and wanted cuddling so they snuggled with him under the covers, curling around each other and drawing solace from the warmth and physical contact.

            Later they all went to her time and did the shopping. It was one of the few times the stroller Mama had bought came in handy, even though Yukio didn’t like it and preferred to ride on one of his parents’ shoulders. They put him in it anyway and wheeled him down the streets of Tokyo ; looking very much like a normal mother and father taking their young one out for walk. Well… as normal as two silver-haired, golden-eyed boys dressed in hakamas and haoris and wearing caps to cover their dog ears could be.

            Passer-bys always stopped to see the baby and Yukio always scowled at them if Inuyasha’s glares didn’t scare them off to begin with. Kagome didn’t like to encourage the anti-social behavior, but Inuyasha explained that it had less to do with Yukio not liking people and much more to do with the strange scent. Strangers weren’t pack and therefore could not be trusted, so Yukio didn’t want them near him.

            A trip to the grocery store, two cartons of ramen and three bags of food later, they returned to the shrine. Mama insisted on having them stay for dinner and Kagome didn’t feel she could say no, especially since the journey to Kōtsuke was going to be a long one, so it was well past dark before they got back to the den. Yukio was zapped out even before they returned and not even the trip through the well woke him up. They settled him into his bed and turned to each other once again.

            Few words were spoken, as if neither of them knew what to say, or worse, everything that could be said had already been said and there was no point in breaking the peace between them. Kagome was painfully aware of his position, just as he was aware of hers, but he had made his commitment to keep his promise to Kikyou if she demanded it of him and he had no intention of breaking it. Inuyasha had nothing but the clothes on his back, Tessaiga, and his word, and he was above all things an honorable man. One wouldn’t think it of him with his crass ways and harsh mouth, but he took his responsibilities and integrity very seriously, and she would never ask him to compromise himself on something that was so very important to him.

            It seemed funny to her that he valued his word above his hanyou nature. He’d been willing to give up all his power, long life and strength to become human for Kikyou, but he would not give up his honor. She, of course, would never dream of telling him that to his face, but if there was anything she was slightly bitter about, it was the fact that he was willing to give up so much for a woman who she believed had never truly loved him, and yet he refused to deny her the claim she had placed upon him.

            Kikyou said Inuyasha’s life was hers because she had died for him. Kagome felt badly about that, but she had started to believe Sango and Kaede’s words that Inuyasha had paid his debt to Kikyou with Naraku’s death and that Inuyasha was now free. She wished Inuyasha believed it too, but it was obvious that he did not. Still, he maintained that he would do all he could to stay with her and Yukio, intent on keeping his promise to Kikyou after Kagome had lived out her short human lifetime. There was a huge kink in that Grand Master Plan that she never bothered to point out, and it seemed it was the elephant in the living room (or den as the case may be) that he absolutely refused to acknowledge: the lives and needs of the family they planned to have.

            If he went to Hell with Kikyou or went off with her wherever, who would be left to be there for their children? If she was dead and Inuyasha was gone with his former lover, there would be no one to guide and care for their family. Even if she lived to be 100 years old, from what Inuyasha had told her, their children would be barely out of childhood when she died. Inuyasha insisted that he wanted pups and she was more than willing to provide, but if he had plans to abandon her babies to go running off with the clay pot after she was dead and buried, she needed to make it very clear to him that there  ** _would_**   ** _be no pups_**  if that was truly his intent. It was bad enough that Yukio would lose both parents, but she wasn’t about to doom any other children to that fate if she could help it.

            She was really hoping, since the one who knew Kikyou the best was Inuyasha, that he was right about Kikyou’s change of heart. However, she wasn’t holding her breath because not even Kaede believed Kikyou had done that much of an about-face. The old miko maintained that her sister was dead, and that the person who now bore her sister’s face was nothing more than a pale imitation fueled by hatred and dead souls. It was true that the undead miko  ** _had_**  been different since that day Kagome had healed her of Naraku’s miasma, and she wanted to believe that she had helped to comfort and ease Kikyou’s wounded heart, but that seemed like such a huge task for someone as small as she and she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

            What she should be doing, she knew, was preparing for the worst. She needed to be ready to deal with the consequences of Kikyou demanding that Inuyasha go with her. She half expected the miko to say her year away was a favor to Inuyasha in trade for having to leave his second love.

_‘I get a year and she gets him for eternity. Good trade.’_

            She had to be ready to be there for Yukio, to comfort him when his father did not return, and be able to raise him as best she could without another hanyou around to help her. There was so much she still didn’t know about hanyou development and growth. She had no idea what to expect or how to handle situations she knew would be unique to him- like learning to use his hanyou powers, learning to use his senses, learning to hunt... so much she wasn’t strong enough or fast enough to help him with, not to mention that she would die well before he reached maturity.

             _‘My baby, my poor baby will be all alone. When I die, where will he go? Who will help him? Who will love him? Who can I trust to take care of him after I’m gone?’_

            The grief threatened to overwhelm her because she knew there was a possibility that she would lose Inuyasha to Kikyou once the undead miko found out about Yukio and the fact that she and Inuyasha were now lovers.

             _‘She’ll think I did it on purpose to steal him from her, and she’ll take him. But I didn’t! I didn’t do it on purpose. I just love him so much and it just happened; everything just happened. But she won’t see it that way. She’s always seen me as a threat. Now her fears will be confirmed and she’ll make him keep his promise. How? How will I do this? How can I tell my baby that his father-the father he idolizes- isn’t coming back? How do I live with this? How can I bear his loss?’_

            Tears threatened again and she tried valiantly to hold them back because she knew both her hanyous would wake at the scent of the salt on her skin. She sniffed and Inuyasha proved to her that he wasn’t as asleep as she thought he was by pulling her closer to his body and nuzzling into her throat.

            “You... you have to tell me everything you know about hanyou children. I need... I need to know for Yukio. I need to be able to be a good mother to him...” she begged him, her hands gripping his and threading their fingers together.

            “Shhh. You are a good mother. No one could ask for a better mother than you, Kagome,” he whispered, sucking on her earlobe because he knew it soothed her.

            “But... you’ll be gone and I won’t know what to do...” There, she’d said it. He would be gone and she would have to raise their baby alone.

            He stiffened and pressed his lips against her flesh, and she could feel the slight tremor running through his body at her words.

            “We... we don’t know that,” he replied softly.

            “But we do. We know we’re going where Kikyou might be. If she sees you and demands that you go with her...”

            He placed a hand over her mouth gently. “Don’t speak of such things. Not here, not now.”

            She bit back a sob and turned her head abruptly. “If I don’t now, then when? Before she drags you to Hell? It will be too late then,” she hissed trying to keep her voice down so Yukio wouldn’t wake up.

            “I told you before that I don’t think Kikyou wants to die anymore. Besides the Shikon no Tama isn’t complete yet.”

            “But what if you’re wrong? What if she does? What if she just wants to take you away with her once she finds out about us and Yukio? She’s always seen me as a threat. You know she has. Once she sees us and the baby, she’ll know. You know she’ll know. We won’t be able to hide it from her! She’ll take you away from us,” she interrupted breathlessly, a little desperately.

            “I won’t let that happen. I promise you that there will be time for us...”

            “You can’t make that promise!” she rasped. “If Kikyou demands your life, you’ll go. You know you will. You won’t break your word to her so any promises you make to me are empty.”

            It came out harsher than she’d wanted, but the words were still true. And they still hurt.

            “Stop it. Don’t... don’t be angry...”

            “How can I not be angry? You won’t face the truth. Tomorrow or the next day or the next... they could be our last days together and then you’ll be gone, and you’ll abandon me, Yukio and our life to go with her, and all the promises you made me to protect me and Yukio will be nothing.”

            He tensed and gripped her tightly. “That isn’t true.”

            “What will you do then? What will you do if she demands your life?”

            “I will ask for more time. Time at least to raise our pup out of his infancy.”

            “And if she says no. What then?”

            “I... I don’t know.”

            “You don’t know. None of us knows.”

            She lost her battle with her tears and started to cry. Her tears, as always, distressed Inuyasha and he cuddled her, trying to comfort.

            “Don’t cry, Kagome. Please don’t cry.”

             _‘How can I not cry? You are my world, Inuyasha; you and Yukio. To lose you to Kikyou now after all we’ve shared... Please don’t ask me not to cry. I’m not that brave.’_

            “I’m not that brave,” was all she said.

            “Shhhhh. Please Kagome. Please trust me. I won’t break my word.”

            “But how can you possibly keep it?”

            “I don’t know, but I’ll find a way. I promise you. I  ** _will_**  find a way.”

            She shook her head and gave in to her grief, weeping openly and he gathered her into his arms as he sat up, holding her and rocking her as she cried. She was making him feel helpless and she knew it, but there was nothing she could do. She wouldn’t tell him that they had made a mistake in letting their relationship go as far as it did. She wouldn’t tell him that she would probably regret her choice for the rest of her life. She wouldn’t beg him to forget Kikyou and choose her because she was alive and they had a family. And because she wouldn’t do any of those things, and she was unable to voice her sorrow, she could do nothing  ** _but_**  cry and feel the helplessness of it all.

            Yukio woke and crawled to them, whimpering and broadcasting his distress at his mother’s tears. Neither could tell him why Okaa-san was crying, or offer him anything more than a tearful hug. The stress and upset finally got to Inuyasha, and he stood abruptly and left the den. Kagome wrapped her arms around her son and drew him close, sniffling and trying to get herself under control. In the distance she heard the tell-tale crash of a tree falling and knew that her adult hanyou had resorted to his unique form of cutting firewood in order to deal with the emotions raging inside of him.

            Left alone in the den, a strange calm settled over her and she stilled.

             _‘So this is how it will be,’_  she thought, looking around the space she had come to think of as her ‘home’ in the Sengoku Jidai.  _‘This is what it will be like without him here. I wonder how long it will take for his scent to fade.’_

            “Okaa-a-a-a,” Yukio whined, reaching for her face to touch the wetness on her cheeks. :Mother-female hurt.:

            She leaned down and kissed his cheek, cuddling him. “It’s alright, my baby. Okaa is here and she won’t leave you.”

            He snuffled against her chest, his little hands clutching at her shirt.

            “I love you, my baby. I love you, Yukio.”

             _‘I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know that no one will ever take you away from me, and I’ll do the best I can no matter what happens.’_

            Hugging Yukio tightly and burying her face in his silver hair, she rocked him and hummed soothingly under her breath, all the while cursing Fate who gave her everything she ever wanted and now threatened to take it all away.

 


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Japanese used in this chapter:
> 
> “Kussee”= “It stinks!”  
> Onsen- hot spring.

Chapter Thirty

 

            The journey to Kōtsuke took four days. The distance was only 56 ri but the need for food and sleep greatly diminished the number of traveling hours in a day. For once, however, Inuyasha wasn’t complaining about how much the others slowed him down. In fact, Kagome secretly suspected that he was going at a slower pace himself. He certainly wasn’t going nearly as fast as he could, but even with the limitations of human bodies and the needs of pups, he seemed to be in no particular hurry.

            The trip was quiet. Shippou kept the conversation light and entertained Yukio, who knew that something was very, very wrong between his parents but didn’t understand exactly what, and avoided all subjects involving Kikyou. Even Myouga, who normally took every opportunity to offer his advice and insights, stayed uncharacteristically silent. It was as if a blanket of denial had been wrapped around them, and none of them were eager to pull it back. They all knew what could happen, but were pretending to remain blissfully ignorant.

            At night, Shippou, Kirara and Myouga would watch Yukio while Kagome and Inuyasha went off to be alone for a couple of hours. They would return to camp after they had finished their private time, and all of them would take their places inside Kagome’s sleeping bag. Shippou would settle next to Kagome on the side opposite of Inuyasha, Yukio would be nestled between his parents, and Myouga would hop into Kirara’s fur as she curled up at their feet. Together the six of them took up only a minimal amount of space, but there was no lack of body warmth.

            All along their travels, though they met many traders along the road, no one had heard even a whisper of a ‘powerful shrine maiden’ coming to kill the beast that hunted the trade roads. Most, in fact, thought  ** _they_**  were the hired hunters and their little group didn’t lack for food or shelter during the trip. It was a marked difference from other trips they had taken where doors were shut and food was scarce.

            Kagome was hoping since no one had heard a thing about the miko from Zenko-ji, that the messengers had yet to return from their task, and that if the miko was indeed Kikyou, they would miss her. With not even a rumor that the messengers had even been  ** _sent_** , her hopes for a reprieve went up a little bit the further into Kōtsuke they traveled. Even Inuyasha seemed a little more relaxed and focused on killing the monster of the moment, and some of the clouds had gone from his eyes.

            On the afternoon of the fifth day, they were attacked by the beast they’d been sent to kill, thus making life a little easier since it had come to them. By this time, Inuyasha was just itching for a fight to work off some of his nervous energy and stress, and he went at the monster with full force. It was an ogre, very much like the one Naraku had tried to trap them in that one time almost two years ago, only a little smaller, and it did have shards, two in fact: one in its forehead and the other in its club.

            It put up a good fight but it really didn’t stand a chance against Inuyasha. Her adult hanyou prolonged the fight, however, by refusing to use Tessaiga. No, he used the opportunity to turn the hunt into a lesson for Yukio, demonstrating the power of hanyou claws alone. Watching him fight, she was thrilled to see him use his power. He leaped from tree to tree, spinning and whirling as he sliced at the ogre. His silver hair was flying, his body moving in graceful arcs that made her heart beat faster and her breath come in short gasps of excitement. She wondered how Kikyou could have ever seen him like that and  ** _not_**  have been entranced by his beauty? How could she have wanted to strip this magnificent creature of his strength and speed? He was glorious in his full display, and she had the inkling that he was showing off just a little for her benefit because every now and then he’d give her a look and a cocky smirk.

            Oh yes, tonight they might take three hours and enjoy themselves just that much more. With the pressure off and the prospect of avoiding Kikyou a real possibility, she was certain that the joy would come back to their lovemaking, instead of the loving sorrow that had laced through it recently.

            Killing the beast was extremely satisfying for all of them. The shards were collected, the threat to the traders was gone, and now they could go home, slipping out of the country before the ‘powerful shrine maiden’ ever set foot in Kōtsuke. For the first time since they had left Musashi, Kagome was feeling light and free, and smiles graced the faces of their traveling party. They brought the head of the ogre to the daimyo and the ecstatic man offered to reward them handsomely for their efforts. Without Miroku there to ‘negotiate’ for them, Inuyasha brokered a very fair deal that earned them less in money but promised favor to traders from Musashi.

            It was the first time Kagome had ever seen him in a diplomatic position and she was shocked to see how good he was at it. It drove home even further her belief that Inuyasha was not a violent simpleton, but in actuality a very intelligent, deep-thinking individual who only  ** _let_**  people think less of him. She was fairly sure that he shocked Shippou as well, and she hoped that maybe the kit would start realizing a few things about Inuyasha. The deal he brokered would help the people of their village by ensuring them a place to trade their goods, which would in turn increase the prosperity of everyone. The very fact that he was even thinking about the villagers showed that he was a natural born leader, and Kagome was immensely proud of him.

            That night they feasted at a banquet in their honor and slept in the finest room. Yukio was put with Shippou and the others, cuddled in the laps of numerous village women who fawned over the youngsters and Kirara in her kitten form. Myouga, letch that he was, was in flea-demon heaven and they knew they probably wouldn’t see him until morning.

            Inuyasha and Kagome took the opportunity to slip off together to make love in their room. Their joining was joyful as Kagome had predicted and the only damper was the fact that they had to be quiet as a courtesy to their hosts. Inuyasha promised a full day of lovemaking once they got back to the den where they could be as loud as they wanted and not have to worry about disturbing anyone. Kagome said she looked forward to that, mostly because it would mean they had both come home. After they were finished, they rescued Yukio, Shippou and Kirara from their admirers and they all settled down together for the first night of worry-free sleep in five days.

            In the morning, the happy group set out for home, laden with provisions and well-wishes. With everything going so well and spirits so high, Kagome should have known it was doomed from the start and was never going to last.

 

********

 

            “Bwah! That’s hot!” Inuyasha yelled, putting one foot in the onsen Kagome had immersed herself in.

            “Is it?” she asked innocently, blinking eyes at him. Yukio and Shippou blinked back as well from their places in the hot spring.

            Inuyasha growled. “You and your hot baths! Do you want to be boiled?”

            She gave him a sly smile. “But they’re so good for aching muscles. Why don’t you at least try it? It’s not so bad once you adjust to it.”

            He huffed and she could see he was thinking about it. She was wet and naked, and she knew he loved her like that because she could usually be persuaded to get dirty enough to need another bath, but both young ones were there with her and that automatically nixed any of  ** _those_**  thoughts. Shippou was in his little swimming ring and Yukio was tucked against her chest. Unlike his father, he loved hot baths, probably because it meant he could stay with his mother, and often hopped in before he was even undressed.

            Inuyasha tried the water again and pulled back again, shaking his head. While he could tolerate most onsen, this one was much hotter than usual and just too hot for him. Not that his hanyou body couldn’t handle it, but it just wasn’t something he enjoyed.

            “No. You stay and boil; I’ll go back to camp and get the cooking fire going.”

            She smiled sweetly. “Okay. We’ll join you in a little while and I’ll make dinner.”

            “Keh, woman, I want ramen.”

            She pouted. “But we have all that wonderful food the villagers gave us. Why do you want the instant noodles when you can have that?”

            “Coz it tastes better. Right, pup?”  
            Yukio nodded enthusiastically, splashing water. “Ramen! Ramen!”

            She sighed. “You’re corrupting him,” she complained.

            “Feh. Told you I would.”

            Shippou shook his head. “Like father like son…”

            “Oi!” Inuyasha groused, but the kit was too far away in the onsen to whack on the head.

            “Oi,” Yukio repeated, reaching over to grab the swimming ring, but popping it with his sharp nails instead.

            “Kagome!!!!” Shippou cried, splashing as he sank into the hot spring.

            Stifling a giggle, she fished him out of the deeper water and brought him to rest against her like Yukio.

            “You should know better by now, Shippou-chan.”

            The drenched fox kit sputtered and glared at Yukio who  ** _did_**  giggle.

            “Shippou wet.”

            Shippou just growled which only made Yukio giggle more and his father chuckle.

            “That’s my pup.” :Good pup.:

            Yukio beamed at the praise.

            “Alright. Meet me back at camp,” Inuyasha said with finality.

            “Okay, we’ll be there in a little while. I’m enjoying this.”

            “Feh,” he snorted and stalked off.

            “I’m going to get out too,” Shippou said, pushing away from her.

            “Alright.”

            She carried him to the edge of the spring and let him go, then moved back to rest against one of the rocks in the center while the kitsune dressed. Yukio stayed with her, his head resting against her shoulder as they soaked, steam rising up from the water as it came in contact with the cooler night air.

            “Mmmmm, feels so good, doesn’t it, baby,” she sighed.

            Yukio burbled an affirmative and snuggled close.

            “I’m glad we’ll be home soon,” Shippou commented from where he was seated on the bank. “Inuyasha’s going faster now. We should be back in Musashi by tomorrow night.”

            Kagome nodded. “Yeah. I’ll feel so much better once we cross the border.”

            Shippou agreed. “I miss Sango and Miroku.”

            “Me too.”

            They fell quiet, enjoying the peace of the place and the warmth of the water. Kagome closed her eyes and leaned back, leaving only the tops of her breasts and above out of the water. Yukio was so relaxed he was almost asleep.

            A tingle of power crept up her spine and it was her only warning. Her eyes snapped open as her senses came to full alert and she sat up straighter.

            “Kagome?” Shippou asked, then sniffed the air.

            “Shippou…” she breathed.

            They both froze as a Shinidama-chuu came gliding into the clearing around the onsen.

_‘Kikyou…’_

            She knew the undead miko could not be more than a few moments behind her soul-gatherers, and there was no time for her to get out of the spring and run for her clothes. Shippou however…

            “Shippou run,” she hissed.

            The kitsune bounded off in a flurry of blue and red, and she felt some small measure of relief. Shippou would run to Inuyasha and then Inuyasha would come running to her.

             _‘Which may or may not be a good thing under the circumstances,’_ she thought.

            “Okaa?” Yukio asked quietly, sensing her distress.

            :Pup be still. Be quiet,: she told him gently, not with anger but with warning.

            He immediately understood that there was danger and hunkered close.

             _‘Maybe I could reach my clothes…’_  she hoped, but movement from the trees stopped her as several more Shinidama-chuu came gliding out, followed by Kikyou herself.

            The two women regarded each other silently. Kikyou’s face was as neutral as ever, and Kagome once again found it hard to believe that this woman had ever smiled in her lifetime. She drew her baby close, knowing there was no way she could hide him because they were both naked and in the water. Yukio turned in her arms and looked at the undead miko, blinking his huge golden eyes at her and sniffing. Then he crinkled up his nose and opened his mouth to prove he was Inuyasha’s son.

            “Kussee.”

            Kagome gulped, but Kikyou’s expression didn’t change.

            “Ummm…” she tried.

            “When the daimyo said the ogre had been killed by a dog-eared hanyou and his strangely dressed woman, I knew it could be none other than you. But it was talk of a white-haired, dog-eared child that drew me to seek you out,” Kikyou cut her off.

            The undead miko’s eyes settled on Yukio and Kagome found herself trying to shield him from the uncomfortable stare.

            “Now I see for myself that this was true.”

            “Don’t be angry,” she begged.

            “Angry? Angry that you gave Inuyasha something I cannot?” came the deadpan answer.

            “It’s not like that. I…”

            “Kagome!” Inuyasha’s voice screamed as her hanyou came tearing into the clearing.

            There was a shimmer of light and he slammed full force into an invisible wall.

            “Inuyasha!” she cried as he hit the ground with a heavy thud.

            “Kikyou! What have you done?” he demanded, jumping to his feet, brushing off the impact as if nothing had happened.

            “I have put up a barrier,” Kikyou calmly replied.

            “Kagome!” Shippou called as he and Kirara in her full firecat form came streaking into the clearing.

            “Don’t come any closer. Kikyou’s put up a barrier!” she warned and the firecat landed with a snarl.

            She pushed off with her feet and sliced through the water to get closer to Inuyasha. He in turn moved to where she was as she rose from the onsen.

            “Kagome,” he said, his hands against the barrier, and his eyes told of his fear and worry.

            “Inuyasha.”

            “Otou-san!” Yukio called, reaching for his father, and Kagome cringed.

_‘Inuyasha can’t get in, but maybe… maybe Yukio can get out…’_

            She put the naked toddler on his feet and gave him a push.

            “Run, baby. Run for Otou-san.” :Go to Leader-male!:

            He looked at her, saw her face and obeyed without a complaint. He never made it. Even in the short distance between him and his father, the Shinidama-chuu swept down and encircled him, lifting him up and carrying him to Kikyou.

_‘No!’_

            Yukio, realizing the potential danger he was in and knowing this person was not part of his pack, began to squirm and kick as he loudly protested his capture. The undead miko held him in both hands, studying him the way a scientist would study a potential specimen.

            “Otou-san! Kaa-san!” Yukio yelled.

            “Silence,” Kikyou ordered, and touched a finger to his forehead. He went limp immediately and quieted, but it was obvious that he was still awake and aware because his eyes were wide open and terrified.

            “What have you done to my baby?” Kagome gasped.

            “He is unharmed.”

            “Kikyou!!” Inuyasha snarled. “Put my pup down!”

            “You acknowledge this child as yours then?” Kikyou asked coolly.

            “No! Yukio isn’t Inuyasha’s. He’s an orphan we adopted!” Kagome tried to explain.

            “It is obvious this child was not spawned by his seed. This boy is a true inu-hanyou, not an even further diluted mixed-breed as any child fathered by Inuyasha would be,” the miko replied calmly.

            Kagome wasn’t sure if the comment was meant as an insult or not.

            “What the fuck does it matter who sired him? He’s mine! Put him down!” Inuyasha growled.

            “Please don’t hurt my baby.”

            “Hurt him?” Kikyou replied, blinking for the first time.

            Any further statements she would have made were interrupted by Inuyasha drawing Red Tessaiga and attempting to slice through the miko’s barrier. The blade recoiled off the invisible wall, shocking Inuyasha back and sending him flying into a tree trunk.

            “Inuyasha!” Shippou yelled and hopped to his side.

            “Inuyasha-a-a!” Kagome screamed, rushing to the barrier. She knelt beside it, attempted to put her hands through it, and was blocked.

            ‘ _So Yukio wouldn’t have made it... He might have even been hurt if he’d tried to go through...’_

            “Kagome!” he replied, crouching by the shield, his hands once again resting against it.

            “Inuyasha, you’re all right?”

            “Keh! I’m fine, but my Tessaiga won’t cut through the fucking thing!”

_‘If Tessaiga can’t cut it, then that means...’_

            She turned to Kikyou. “Kikyou, please. I don’t care what you do to me, just please don’t hurt Inuyasha and don’t hurt my baby. Please!”

            “Kagome, no!” Shippou cried.

            “No. I’m the one you want,” Inuyasha argued. “Take me and leave Kagome and my pup alone.”

            “Inuyasha, no!”

            “Shut up, Kagome! You and the pup must stay safe.”

            The undead miko looked from one to the other, her face once again an unreadable mask, and a cold realization settled into Kagome’s guts.

             _‘She knows. She sees. She heard him cry my name and sees him siding with me. He hasn’t really looked at her even once. She knows our relationship is different now.’_

            “Kikyou, please. I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’ll give Inuyasha to you and leave forever, but please give me back my baby,” she pleaded softly.

            She had to turn her head so she wouldn’t see Inuyasha’s heartbroken face.

            “Kagome... Kagome, no. What would I do with the pup all by myself? I’m a horrible father.”

            Now she did look at him, tears in her eyes. “You’re a wonderful father. I... I would have been very happy to bear your pups.”

            “But what if she drags me to Hell? Who will raise the pup?!” he argued, his eyes desperate.

            She cast a terrified glance at Kikyou. Could she give them both up if it meant they would live? The answer came to her without pause.  _‘Yes. If it meant that Inuyasha and Yukio would live, I would gladly die.’_

            “Kikyou. Take my life in exchange for Inuyasha’s. If I die, your soul will be whole again. You’ve said before that there is no need for two of us in this time, and I’m just in the way. Take me and let him live. You and he can raise Yukio together and have a chance at the life the two of you lost when Naraku betrayed you.”

            Kikyou did not react to her offer, her face remaining as impassive and unreadable as ever. Inuyasha, however, went ballistic.

            “Kagome-e-e-e!!!”

            His voice ended in a snarl and he attacked the shield with his bare hands, gritting his teeth as the barrier reacted by shocking him with bolts of purifying energy. It blew him back twice and twice he threw himself at it again, roaring in pure fury.

            “Inuyasha-sama! You must stop!” Myouga warned, hopping up to him.

            “Let Kagome and my pup go!!!” Inuyasha howled and Kagome swore she saw his eyes flash red.

_‘Oh my god! Will he transform, even with Tessaiga at his hip?’_

            “Inuyasha! Osuwari!” she ordered, hoping a subduing would bring him back to his senses.

            He hit the dirt in mid-leap with a growl, but when he came up his eyes were clear.

            “Kikyou-u-u,” he seethed, his claws rending the earth beneath him.

            Kikyou watched the display silently without so much as a breath escaping her lips, and if anything her silence frightened Kagome even more.

_‘What is she thinking? What does she plan to do with Yukio? She isn’t saying or doing anything...’_

            “Okaa...” Yukio said plaintively.

            :Be still. Pup be quiet,: she warned, not wanting Kikyou to enchant him again and possibly do him damage.

            Yukio obeyed and his immediate acquiescence caused Kikyou to flick her eyes at him for a second, before returning her stony gaze to Kagome and her former lover.

            “Kikyou, please.”

            She stood, still naked but not caring what Kikyou thought or saw, and reached out her hands. “Please Kikyou. I know you’re not a bad person. You’d never hurt a child. Yukio is an innocent in all of this and he’s already lost one set of parents. Please don’t make him an orphan a second time. Give him back, please.”

            “And each of you begs for the other’s life and the life of your child. Neither asks for mercy for yourselves. Is this love? To care so much for the other that you care nothing for your own safety?” the undead miko finally asked, her voice as emotionless as ever.

            “Yes,” Kagome confirmed. “I don’t care what you do to me, but I want Inuyasha and Yukio to live. I would die for them. Kill me and take back your soul if that is what it will take for you to let my baby go.”

            “Kagome!” both Inuyasha and Shippou cried in horror.

            She smiled sadly at them. “I’ll do what I have to do because I love you.”

            “No!” Inuyasha roared and renewed his attacks on the barrier, drawing Tessaiga and slicing at it.

            “Kon-gou-sou...” he began, preparing the diamond-spear blast.

            “INUYASHA! NO! You could hit Yukio!!” she screamed in terror.

            Kikyou’s Shinidama-chuu rushed at him, wrapping around him as Kikyou herself brought Yukio to her body with one hand in order to free the other, and hit him with a blast of her own purifying energy from her palm.

            “Inu-ya-sha-a-a-!!!” Kagome yelled as he was blown back for the umpteenth time.

            “He is a berserker. He must be subdued,” Kikyou said.

            For once, she and the undead miko were in complete agreement.

            “Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!”

            Inuyasha slammed into the ground repeatedly and finally stopped moving. When he eventually did get up, Kagome knew he was going into shock. His eyes were dilated and she could see the beads of perspiration clinging to his face.

_‘I have to do something. I don’t have my bow and the barrier prevents me from leaving here. There is only one thing I can do against her now, but if I do it... Inuyasha… Inuyasha forgive me. If I do this I could kill her, but she has our baby and you’re just hurting yourself. I don’t have any choice.’_

            Inuyasha’s eyes met hers and he seemed to understand what she was thinking. She saw him swallow once and then nod, giving her his silent permission and his forgiveness.

            ‘ _Inuyasha. Kikyou. I’m sorry,_ ’ she apologized and reached into herself for the thread of power that connected her split soul. Grasping it in her spiritual hand, she Pulled.

            Kikyou jerked and several souls escaped her fake body, but then Kagome felt what could only be described as a mental slap and she was thrown back.

            “Foolish girl. Did you think I wouldn’t find a way to defend myself from your attempts to take back your soul?” the undead miko stated, showing just a hint of annoyance.

            “Kagome!” Shippou sobbed, rushing to where she lay sprawled on the ground.

            “Kagome,” Inuyasha called, his hand on the barrier, then he began hitting it with his fist, but not in the uncontrolled way he had been punching it before. This was more of a show of helpless frustration and anguish.

            Picking herself up from the grass, she shook off the pain but was left with the headache.

_‘It didn’t work. She blocked my attempt to take back the piece of me she still has. What do I do? Do I try again, just harder??’_

            Gritting her teeth, she picked up the thread again and prepared to do battle.

_‘I am just as strong as she is, maybe even stronger. I’m just untrained. But I can do this. I have to do this, even if I don’t want to...’_

            Kikyou gave her a mirthless smile. “Going to try again, are you? But I sense your heart is not in it. You still have no desire to hurt me. Even now, when I have your baby and have cut you off from your lover, you still do not harbor any hate for me in your heart. If you had, the jewel around your neck would reflect your taint, yet it remains uncorrupted. What must our soul have gone through, I wonder, in the five hundred years that separate us for it to become so pure? How many lives did it lead and what did it suffer to have grown so large and learned so much?”

            Kikyou’s statement stopped her in her tracks and a new inkling dawned on her, one that gave her pause.

_‘Does Kikyou... does she **not**  want to hurt us?’_

            Lowering her hand to her side and dropping the thread, she regarded her greatest rival with wary, but newly opened eyes.

            “Kagome?” Inuyasha asked, but she waved him to be quiet.

            There was a long silence, then Kikyou lowered her gaze to look at Yukio and there was no denying that the miko’s face softened. Yukio looked back at her and stuffed his fist into his mouth.

            “Yukio want Okaa-san,” the child pleaded.

            “Yu-ki-o,” Kikyou said slowly. “Nourished by god.”

_‘So she knows the third meaning too. Well, **of course**  she would know…’_

            Kikyou moved, half-gliding over to a large boulder on the edge of the hot spring, and sat down upon it, her eyes focused on the toddler in her embrace. One hand lifted up to lightly brush along the silver strands of his hair and the tops of his little ears. Kagome saw him flick them away from her touch, but that was probably due to instinctive reflex more than anything else.

            She took the opportunity to hastily pull on her clothes.

            “Kagome, what’s going on?” Shippou asked softly.

            She cast a glance at him and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m not sure yet, Shippou-chan, but I think we might have been overreacting.”

            “Overreacting?” Inuyasha hissed, his hands on the shield. “She’s got the pup and she’s put up a fucking barrier. How can we be overreacting?”

            She shook her head and turned to face Kikyou.

            “Kikyou, if you truly don’t mean any harm, please show us your intentions by lowering the barrier.”

            Kikyou’s only reaction was a quick flick of her eyes, then there was a flash of light and Inuyasha fell on his nose beside her.

_‘So she doesn’t mean us any harm...’_

            Inuyasha recovered quickly and was barreling towards his former lover. He stopped short of her and held out his hands.

            “The pup, Kikyou. Give me my pup.”

            “Theirs was always black,” the undead miko replied, then slowly took her eyes from Yukio and raised them to Inuyasha.

            “Eh?”

            “In my dreams, our children always had black hair. They were human children who slept in our arms and gathered at our feet,” she clarified with a note of regret in her voice.

            Inuyasha dropped his arms and flattened his ears. “Kikyou,” he whispered.

            “It is ironic, but more fitting, don’t you think? An orphaned, outcast hanyou raising an orphaned, outcast hanyou child?”

            “Kikyou,” Kagome said, coming to stand beside Inuyasha.

            The miko looked at her then offered Yukio to her. She took him, wrapping him up in his haori, which she had grabbed before she walked over to them. Yukio, traumatized and relieved to be safe again, latched on with his claws and clung to her.

            “Okaa-san.” :Mother-female.:

            “He is beautiful,” Kikyou breathed.  
            “Yukio...” Kagome sighed as she buried her face in his hair and hugged him tight. :Mother-female loves pup.:

            Inuyasha practically yanked him out of her embrace as he grabbed his son and gave him a thorough sniffing to reassure himself that the child was unharmed and unaltered. Yukio gave a little whine of protest but then clung to his father just as tightly as he had clung to Kagome.

             _‘Poor Yukio. He’ll be Velcro Baby for at least two days now,’_  she thought.

            “Kikyou, thank you,” Inuyasha said, holding his son close.

            “My reincarnation is correct. I would never harm a child. Not even a hanyou one.”

            Inuyasha flushed with shame and nodded, then handed Yukio to Kagome. He crawled up to her shoulder, wrapped his arms around her neck and his legs around her diaphragm, becoming a Yukio-shaped leech that had attached himself to her chest. She patted him lovingly and held him close. He dug his little claws into the fabric of her shirt and she knew if anyone tried to take him, he’d rend the garment to pieces.

            The three of them stood and looked at each other, and Kagome did not know what to say. Kikyou didn’t seem angry. She looked more sad than anything else.

            “You... you said you followed us because the daimyo said we had a child with us,” she finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

            “Yes,” Kikyou answered simply.

            Inuyasha growled. “If that’s so, then what was the barrier for?”

            Kikyou leveled eyes at him. “Would you have let me anywhere near your mate and child if I had not?”

            Inuyasha snorted but looked guilty.

            “Yes, I know you have taken her for your mate. It is obvious to anyone with eyes.”

            Inuyasha straightened and looked briefly at Kagome. “It is true. Kagome and I have become closer, but... I have not built her a house.”

            Kikyou gazed at each of them individually, then turned her eyes to Inuyasha. “You’ve been waiting for me.”

            The adult hanyou bowed his head. “My promise binds me to you first. I was not free to move on.”

            “Yet you accepted her love and took her innocence.”

            Inuyasha swallowed hard but said nothing, and Kikyou looked to Kagome.

            “And you let him do this, knowing full well that my claim still stood. You allowed him to taint you and bring shame upon you.”

            Kagome glared, her fists clenching. “Hey! I’m not tainted and I’m not ashamed of what I did. I love Inuyasha and I’m not sorry about what happened at all.”

            Kikyou gave her a small smile. “No, you wouldn’t be. You live by a set of rules that are alien and unknown to us in this time. It is why you have not been diminished by your relations with him.”

            “I am sorry about the way things happened,” she explained. “I know it looks like I did it all on purpose, but I didn’t. I wasn’t intending to... mate with him, and Yukio... well, Yukio was brought to us by his dying mother. She put him in my arms and begged me to keep him safe.”

            “Life goes on. It does not stop for the dead,” Kikyou replied cryptically. “My time here ended over fifty years ago. If it were not for Urasue and her black magics, I would never have been ripped from my rest. This life, this place, does not belong to me. I merely walk in it.”

            “Kikyou... what are you saying?” Inuyasha asked.

            The undead miko placed a hand upon her chest in exactly the spot where Naraku’s tentacle had punctured her.

            “Do you know that the place where your hand sealed the wound in my chest is the only place on my body that is always warm,” Kikyou told her.

            Kagome swallowed and blushed. “I...”

            “My sister once said to me that you were a remarkable child who was slowly healing Inuyasha’s heart. What I had wanted to do while I was alive, you were now doing in my stead. But my ways were tainted by my belief that all youkai were evil and needed to be exterminated or controlled. You were free of such beliefs and were able to accept him as a hanyou. I have come to realize that this is why my soul waited 500 years before returning to right the wrong it had done.”

            “Wrong?” Inuyasha gasped. “I am as guilty as you. I didn’t trust you. If I had trusted you...”

            Kikyou held up a hand. “It was not our fate, Inuyasha. Both of us... we loved, yes. We did love. But we hated too. What I wanted from you was not pure. I understand that now, more than you realize. If you had made the wish upon the Shikon no Tama back then, it would have reflected  ** _my_**  taint and possibly destroyed us both. Never forget that the jewel is both good  ** _and_**  evil, and any wish is sure to be twisted if given the chance.”

            “Kikyou... I...” Inuyasha tried.

            “And in this life, I tried to hold you to me, but Kagome had your heart and I could not compete with it. How could I? I wanted your death. She has always wanted you to live. I wanted your hate. She wanted your love. I wanted your suffering. She wanted you to be happy. Her love was the pure love, and your soul knew it even if your heart did not.”

            Listening to the undead miko’s words, and hearing the regret and sorrow in her voice Kagome realized what Kikyou was saying and her heart beat faster in her chest.

_‘She... she’s going to release him! She’s... We... We’ll be able to be together...’_

            “I would be lying if I said I did not regret the lost opportunities we did not take. But lost is what they are and we cannot bring them back, any more than we can make my heart beat again or my body flesh instead of mud and bones.”

_‘She understands. Life is for the living and not the dead.’_

            She looked and saw Inuyasha clenching his fists, his body taut and rigid.

_‘He’s holding himself back for my sake... he shouldn’t have to.’_

            “I... I’ll leave you two alone,” she said softly.

            Inuyasha stared wide-eyed at her, then his face softened in gratitude.

            “Kagome...”

            She gave him a tender smile and kissed his cheek gently. He nuzzled her, then petted and nuzzled Yukio.

            “I’ll be back at camp. Take your time. I’ll hold dinner. Okay?”

            He nodded. “Thank you, Kagome.”

            She nodded back then gave a small bow to Kikyou. Kikyou dipped her head slightly in response. Knowing that was all she would get from the undead miko, Kagome turned away and walked toward camp. Shippou was on Kirara in her full firecat form, the kit was holding the rest of Yukio’s clothes in his small hands, and they watched her go then fell in beside her. Myouga hopped up on her shoulder.

            “You’re going to leave them alone, Kagome-sama?” the flea-youkai asked.

            “I trust Inuyasha. If I’m going to have a future with him, I have to show him that I’m not going to repeat Kikyou’s mistakes,” she answered.

_‘Besides, if Kikyou is going to say good-bye, they should be free to hug and I don’t want to see that.’_

            “Kagome is so much more mature than Inuyasha,” Shippou commented.

            Kagome spared a brief glance towards the couple who stood facing each other and bit her lip.

_‘Inuyasha, I do trust you, but please... don’t take too long.’_

            Deliberately turning her back, she left the two former lovers alone and returned to their camp.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

 

            Inuyasha waited until Kagome was gone before he spoke.

            “Kikyou...” he whispered, trying to put all of his regret and sadness in the name.

            “Do not suffer for me, Inuyasha. In many ways your debt has been repaid tenfold.”

            He paused, his eyes downcast. “I... I’m still sorry.”

            “Don’t be. You have found love. Isn’t that what you wished for with me?”

            “But you’re alone! And... and I made you a promise.”

            “The promise you made was to someone who no longer exists. Your Kikyou died fifty years ago, Inuyasha, when she followed you in death.”

            “Why... why are you saying these things to me now? Before you demanded that my life was yours. You told me you wouldn’t give it to anyone else. Why the change of heart?” he demanded.

_‘All that time she made me think she would come for me. She made me deny Kagome and kept me from building a house. Kagome may not see it as I do, but I **am** dishonoring and shaming her by not making her my wife.’_

            She looked at him and did not answer. Her silence irritated him and he scowled.

            “Kikyou, where have you  ** _been?_**  No one has seen you in over a year. You just left without telling anyone anything. The only way we knew you were even alive was through Kagome. Where did you go?”

_‘Why did you just leave me without a word? Why didn’t you set me free if you did not intend to return?’_

            “After we last saw each other by Goshinboku all those months ago, my travels took me into Shi Nano to a place called Zenko-ji. You have heard of this place, yes?”

            He nodded that he had. “It’s a holy place like Mt. Hakurei .”

            She nodded back. “Yes, but all are welcome there. It has been a shrine for centuries. I went there looking for a Shikon shard and instead I found... peace.”

            He blinked. ‘ _Peace?’_  “Peace?”

            “The holy ones there, men and women, they are pure in ways I had only hoped to achieve while I was alive. They knew me for what I was immediately, but they offered me no hatred or violence. Instead, they accepted me and invited me to stay. I have been there ever since.”

            There was something in her eyes, a serenity and calm, that he had only seen on her face but once before. It was on the night he had agreed to become human for her. She had taken his hand and smiled at him, and the same peaceful light had lit her eyes.

            “Kikyou...” ‘ _Has she been happy?’_

            “For the first time since my resurrection, I found a place where I could live and be myself,” she told him. “It is a rare thing for something which is an abomination to most to find acceptance. I never understood the importance of it before I became...  ** _this_**. So many times I had to hide what I was in order to find a small bit of peace. Then I came to Zenko-ji and experienced acceptance. To them, I was not an abomination, but another sentient being walking this earth in need of solace and a place to belong.”

            “I’m glad. I am glad you found a place where you could be happy and accepted,” he said honestly.  _‘I’m glad you were safe, Kikyou. But why did you not send any word to me? Why did you go away for over a year and leave me hanging?’_

            She smiled softly. “I have been re-learning how to live.”

            “But why did you not send me any word that you were safe? I  ** _can_**  read you know,” he chided.

            She chuckled. “I know. But would you have come seeking me out if you had known where I was? Would you have left my reincarnation’s side to come to mine? By then I had realized my claims on your life were unfounded and unfair. I allowed you to blame yourself for something that was equally my fault. And I had betrayed you in more ways than one with Naraku.”

            He lowered his head and shifted his feet. “I understand what you were trying to do with Naraku.”

            “Do you? I don’t think you do, Inuyasha. I did not fire my arrow to free the Kodoku in order to save you. If I had wanted that, I could have shot the Kodoku and killed it, thus denying Naraku a new body. No, I chose to free the Kodoku and allow Naraku his new body in order to see who was there. It was my own hubris which allowed Naraku to become even more powerful. Then I added to my shame by giving him the shard I stole from Kagome. I, in my arrogance and anger, thought I alone could purify the Shikon no Tama and rid it, and Naraku, from the world. I deeply regret these decisions because I know how much pain and death they caused,” she explained.

            He swallowed hard and clenched his fists _. ‘Kanna, Kagura, Goshinki who broke my Tessaiga and freed my demon blood... All detachments from Naraku that he made with the power of the Shikon no Tama...’_

            “I tried to kill Kagome that time, you know. On the day when all of you were captured by Naraku’s illusions. I had instructed my Shinidama-chuu to drop her into the miasma after I stole the shard.”

            He gritted his teeth, stamping back the sudden rage he felt.  _‘So I was right. Kikyou **had**  gone after Kagome...’_

            “I suspected but Kagome would not tell me what you had done to her.”

            Kikyou made a soft sound. “Trust my reincarnation to keep the truth from you in order to prevent you from being hurt. This is why she is more worthy of you than I could ever be. I am happy that you have found love with her.”

            He drooped his ears and closed his eyes. “I... I did love you, Kikyou.”

            “I know. And I loved you. In my own way. But I could not love you as a hanyou, and you needed to be loved for what you were. Now that I am  ** _this_** I understand too well the importance of being loved and accepted as you are. It is a lesson I never learned in life so I have had to learn it in death. Kagome loves you as a hanyou. She can give you the peace and acceptance that you need. Your wish upon the Shikon no Tama will be pure because she is not tainted as I was.”

            He looked up at her, seeing her with eyes that were clear and sad, but understanding.

            “Kikyou...”

            The undead miko reached into her kimono and drew out a small cloth bag. This she removed from around her neck and handed to him.

            “Give this to Kagome. With this and the shards she already has, it should be the last or very close to it. I only ask that you not make your wish until I join you in the village.”

            He closed his hand around the bag, feeling the shard within. It felt about the right size.

_‘Is this it? Is this the last shard?’_

            “I won’t do anything until we see you again, Kikyou. I promise.”

            She gave him a sad smile. “And your promises are never broken.”

            He looked away again, flushing, then her hand caressed his cheek and her lips were upon his. He was shocked at first, but then he hugged her and kissed her back, softly, tenderly- a kiss good-bye.

            “Live, Inuyasha. Live and be happy,” she whispered as she pulled away.

            “Kikyou... I’ll never forget you, Kikyou.”

            “And I shall never forget you, Inuyasha. You were my first love.”

            “Mine too,” he admitted.

            The Shinidama-chuu encircled their mistress and lifted her up.

            “I’ll come to the village soon. Wait for me.”

            He nodded, looking after her as the soul-catchers carried her away. “I will.”

            “Thank you, Inuyasha, for loving me and remaining true even when I did not deserve it. I free you from your promise. Go and be with Kagome. Build her the house she deserves.”

            He gave her a smile that lit up his eyes. “Thank you, Kikyou. Be safe until I see you again.”

            “And you, Inuyasha. Be safe and keep your family safe. Good-bye.”

            “Good-bye, Kikyou.”

            He watched until she was nothing more than a misty white speck against the dark sky, no different from a twinkling star except in that it was moving, then he tucked the shard she had given him close to his chest and drew a deep breath.

_‘I’m free. She set me free. I can marry Kagome and build her a house and we can have a family.’_

            The sudden rush of joy he felt was almost too much for him to contain.

_‘Kagome. My beautiful Kagome. I am forever yours for as long as we both shall live.’_

            He took a moment to compose himself before rushing off to find his lover and soon-to-be wife. He found her sitting by the campfire, Yukio in her lap and playing with the unopened carton of ramen as he impatiently waited for his father to return. Kirara in her kitten form, Shippou and Myouga were all next to her.

            “Kagome,” he said.

            She looked up at him, and he saw the worry and fear fade from her eyes once she saw his face.

            “Otou-san!” Yukio cried happily, dropping the cup of ramen.

            “Inuyasha-sama, you’ve returned,” Myouga announced.

            “She’s gone?” Kagome asked him.

            He nodded, moving to crouch beside her. Yukio leaped into his arms and he held his pup close. “But she’ll be coming to the village soon.”

            “She will?”

            “She wanted me to give you this,” he told her, and gave her the bag.

            She blinked at him then opened the bag, revealing the shard. He heard her gasp.

            “Inuyasha...”

            “Wow!” Shippou breathed, his eyes opening wide.

            “Looks like the last of it. Yeah, I know.”

            She fished her own shard out from inside the collar of her shirt and brought the two pieces close to each other. “We’ll know for sure once I fuse them together.”

            He put a hand on her wrist. “Tomorrow,” he requested.

            She stopped and stared at him, but agreed, placing her shard back into her shirt and wrapping Kikyou’s back up in its bag.

            “Once it’s complete, it will attract even more trouble than it already does and I want peace tonight,” he explained.

            She nodded that she understood.

            “There’s something else,” he began.  _‘How do I tell her this?’_

            “She freed you.”

_‘She knew...’_

            “You knew...”

            She nodded again. “I suspected. That’s why I left you two alone. I wanted you to be able to say good-bye without worrying about me being jealous.”

            He grinned and kissed her. “My Kagome, always thinking of others and never of herself…”  _‘I can say it now. I’m free to say it…’_  “I lo...”

            She put a hand on his lips, halting his final confession.

            “Later. When we’re alone. I want to be alone with you when you tell me the first time because then I won’t have to worry about what I do to you when you finally do say it.”

            Her eyes were swimming with happy tears and he kissed them away. “Kagome...”

            “Inuyasha...”

            “Food!” Yukio yelled, shattering the mood.

            “Oi, pup!” he scolded.

            Yukio glared at him then stuck his fist in his mouth. “Yukio hungry. Want ramen.”

            Kagome giggled then began to laugh. “Our son has spoken.”

            Inuyasha growled making Yukio blink and flatten his ears. :Pup good!:

            Inuyasha nuzzled him with his nose to reassure him that he really wasn’t angry. :Pup good.: “Pup has bad timing.”

            “Bad timing?” Yukio repeated, confused.

            Still nose to nose with his son, which made them both cross-eyed, he huffed. “Pushy pup broke the mood.”

            “Mood?” the toddler answered then grabbed a lock of his father’s hair and pulled.

            “Ow! Ow! Ow! Leggo, pup!” he complained, pulling away.

            “What’s your problem? You got some complaint?” Yukio asked, parroting back statements he had heard his father make hundreds of times.

            Inuyasha just sputtered and must have looked deranged because Yukio reached up one hand and tapped him on the forehead. “You got a fever?”

            “Wha??!!!”

            Shippou sighed and shook his head. “Inuyasha is such a bad influence.”

            Kirara mewed an assent while Myouga nodded. “He wasn’t always like that. When his haha-ue-sama was alive, she was raising him to be a proper man…”

            Inuyasha grabbed the flea-youkai and squished him. “Shut up!”

            Kagome laughed and set the pot on the fire to boil. “I  ** _told_**  you Yukio was turning into you.  ** _This_  **is why I wanted you to watch your mouth around him.”

            “But I’ve stopped cursing around him!” he argued indignantly.

            “You’re still teaching him how to be rude. The first thing he said when he saw Kikyou was that she smelled bad.”

_‘Well, she does. She reeks of grave dirt…’_

            Yukio nodded and grabbed his nose. “Kussee,” he said.

            “See?” she said.

            He frowned. “Now see here, pup. You need to mind your manners. No one likes a rude brat running around.”

            Kagome rolled her eyes. “Oh,  ** _now_**  he gets it…”

            “Feh, this is why we need a house with separate rooms for sleeping. So we can put this brat in his place and make him  ** _stay_**  there when he’s misbehaved.”

            “And you’ll keep him his room precisely how?” she asked indredulously.

            “Permanent seals? One of your ‘locks’? I know, I’ll get Toutousai to forge a youki door that can only be opened from the outside when locked.”

            “So I can lock you in there too when  ** _I_**  want to be alone?” she teased.

            “Oi!”

            She smiled and kissed him to soothe his wounded pride. “I love you.”

            He beamed at her and kissed her back, then hugged her with one arm because the other still held his pup.  
            “I  ** _can_**  build the house now, right Kagome?”

            She gave him a tearful nod and rested her head on his shoulder. “Yes, you can build the house.”

            He sighed and all the tension left his body.  _‘She’s accepted me. Did you have any doubts that she would? Fool. She should. She should see you for the tainted half-breed you are and run for the hills.’_

            He looked at her fondly and kissed her temple. “Kagome…”

            “How many rooms should it have?” she asked faintly.

            “Hmmm? Ummm, three at least. One for us and two for the pups, that way the older ones won’t have to sleep with the littles.”

            “Three bedrooms? It sounds like you plan to build me a palace.”

            “Do you want one? I’ll build it. As big as you like…”

            “No,” she cut him off. “I don’t need a palace or a big house. I’m happy in our den actually. I think I’ll miss it.”

            He smirked. “Who says we’re going to abandon it? You think I’d give up our love nest?”

            She chuckled. “I’m glad.”

            The water was boiling so she pulled away from him to make the ramen. He mourned the loss of her warmth beside him, but the smell of the food was adequate repayment for his momentary lonliness, and soon she was handing him the steaming cup of noodles. Yukio released him and turned to sit in his lap, clapping happily.

            “Ramen! Ramen!”

            Kagome placed his dinner on the ground beside his father’s knee.

            “Here, you have to wait a bit, baby. It’s too hot to eat yet.”

            Yukio pouted but knew what would happen if he ate the ramen when it was too hot because he’d already learned that lesson. Inuyasha took the opportunity to hastily eat his dinner in preparation for feeding his son once the noodles were cool enough for the toddler to eat. Then he noticed that he and Yukio were the only ones with cup noodles.

            “Hey, aren’t you eating?”

            Kagome fished into her bag and pulled out one of the sacks of provisions given to them by the villagers.

            “You and Yukio may want those instant noodles, but the rest of us want  ** _real_**  food,” she answered.

            “That’s because hanyous have no taste,” Shippou commented sagely.

            “Oi!” he groused but the kit was just out of hitting range.

            “Shippou, stop insulting Inuyasha,” Kagome scolded.

            The kitsune looked chagrined but not really repentant. Then he brightened when Kagome handed him a bowl of steamed rice and dumplings.

            “Thank you, Kagome!”

            “Keh. I still say the instant stuff is better,” he sniffed.

            Kagome shrugged and ate her dinner. He ate two cups of ramen and then fed Yukio his cup. The pup was still too young to use chopsticks, so he cut the noodles up onto small bits and fed him with a spoon.

            “How can you think you’re a bad father when you are so caring and attentive to him?” Kagome asked him suddenly.

            He drooped his ears and blushed a little. “Because I’m rude and violent and teach him bad manners,” he replied.

            She cocked her head and looked at him with amusement. “That’s true, but you’re also loving and tender and he adores you.” She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her soft breasts against his back and making him shiver with desire. “I think you’re a wonderful father.”

            Yukio looked up at the both of them and beamed.

            “Otou-san. Okaa-san.”

            She reached over his shoulder to rub the pup’s ears. “Okaa-san loves Yukio.”

            Yukio giggled and grabbed at her hand. “Yukio loves Okaa-san, loves Otou-san.”

            The toddler moved forward further into his lap and hugged him around his chest, his little head right against his collarbone. He put one arm around his pup, and used the other to reach up to hold Kagome’s hand.

            ‘ _My mate and my pup. Do I need anything else to sustain me in this world?’_ he asked himself.  _‘I never thought I would ever have someone to love me. I never dreamed of taking a wife or having pups. Then I met Kikyou and she loved me. I would have done anything for her and I would have become human if Naraku hadn’t tricked us into betraying each other. But was Kikyou right about her love not being pure? Would her taint really have caused my wish to go wrong?’_

            “What are you thinking?” Kagome questioned. “You just got all tense.”

            “Something Kikyou said to me before she left.”

            “Oh?”

_‘There’s no anger or jealousy in her voice when she speaks of Kikyou now…’_

            “Do you think what Kikyou said about my wish to become human might have gone wrong if I’d made it all those years ago is true? That her love for me was tainted with her hatred of youkai, and that the jewel would have used that to twist the wish?”

            Kagome was quiet for a moment and he wondered what she was thinking about this new revelation.

            “Hmmm. She might be right. The Shikon no Tama is very sensitive to the energy around it. It’s entirely possible that if her hatred was strong enough, it  ** _could_**  have affected your wish.”

            He nodded. “So it might have corrupted the wish and destroyed us,” he added.

            Her arms around him tightened a little bit. “I’m glad that didn’t happen. We’ll have to be very careful with your wish.”

            “She said your love was pure and wouldn’t taint the jewel.”

            “Mmm. She said something very similar when I was there. She said it was the reason my being with you didn’t decrease my spiritual powers.”

            He turned his head to nuzzle her and lick her temple lightly.

             _‘Mmm, I love how you smell and taste…’_  he thought with a small needy whine.

            “Did Kikyou say where she’s been all this time?”

            “Eh? Oh. Yeah. She’s been at Senko-ji,” he replied, forcing himself back from his amourous haze.

            “So she  ** _was_**  the shrine maiden from the temple there.”

            He nodded. “Kikyou told me the holy ones there accepted her even though they knew she was dead, and that she found peace there.”

            “Oh, that’s so wonderful. What a comfort that must be for her to not have to hide what she is for fear of being hated and hunted.”

_‘Like a hanyou… Kikyou’s learned what it’s like to be a hanyou. Now she understands what my life has been like…’_

            “She said they taught her how important it is to be accepted as you are. She said it was a lesson she never learned in life.”

            He felt Kagome nod. “Yes. It’s important to love someone as they are and not want to change them.”

            He leaned back into her a little, seeking more contact. “You’ve never tried to change me.”

            She shook her head. “No, never. To me, you are Inuyasha and you’re perfect just the way you are.”

            He closed his eyes and sighed. “Thank you.”

            She gave him a kiss on the cheek then playfully licked his ear; a clear sign that she intended to pleasure him later because she  ** _knew_**  what licking his ears did to him. He groaned softly deep in his throat and nipped at her chin as he turned his head, then gave a little moan and grasped at her when she pulled away.

            “Later,” she whispered in his ear, giving it another quick lick.

            He whined, but she just nuzzled him with her nose and moved to get more rice and dumplings for herself.

            “Yukio want some of Kaa-san’s dumplings?” she asked, offering the toddler one of hers.

            Yukio sniffed at it, his nose screwing up, and looked at her with suspicious eyes. “Not ramen.”

            “No, but they’re just as good.”

            “Don’t believe her, pup. Nothing is as good as ramen,” he warned.

            “Nothing?” she answered coyly.

             _‘Shit. If you wanna have her tonight, you’d better do some fast talking...’_  He stammered and back-pedaled. “No  ** _food_**  is better than ramen,” he corrected hastily.

            “Ahh, no  ** _food_**  is better. Well, thank you for clarifying that.”

            Shippou just shook his head. “I think I’m too young for this conversation.”

            Kagome giggled and blushed, but Inuyasha just beamed proudly and reached over to pat the fox kit on the head. “Someday you’ll understand, Shippou.”

            The kitsune gave him a tolerant look. “I understand now.”

            “Inuyasha-sama, you should be more discrete in front of the children!” Myouga scolded.

            “Hey  ** _she_**  started it!”  _‘With the ear licking and the teasing and the...’_

            He looked at his companions amused faces and realized they were kidding him. He snorted and looked away, folding his arms into his sleeves.

            “Keh!”

            He watched and waited as Kagome finished up the dinner chores and got things ready for the night. He pretended to not care about her actions or even be aware of her as he played with his son, but when all the preparations for the evening were complete and they were all settling down, he fixed her with a look that was pure heat and undisguised need.

            “Kirara, can you watch Yukio?” he heard her ask the firecat.

            Kirara mewed and transformed into her full form. Yukio saw the firecat change and launched a protest.

            “No!”

            “Now see here, pup. Otou and Kaa-san are going off to have some time alone together. No pups allowed.”

            “No leave Yukio!! No! No!”

            Kagome came close and took him into her arms. He latched on to her with his claws and clung.

            “Now now, baby. Otou and Kaa-san need their time. You’ll be safe with Kirara and Shippou-chan. And we always come back, ne? We’ve never left you for long, right?”

            Yukio sniffled and sucked on his fist.

            “Okaa-a-a-a. Nooooooo.”

            “Hush. There’s lots of times when it’s just you and me, ne? Does Otou complain when I spend time with you?”

            The toddler blinked at her and sniffled again. “Yes.”

            “Oi! I do not!” he protested.

            “Yukio, sweetheart, Okaas and Otous need time alone. It helps Okaas and Otous stay happy together. You want us to be happy, ne?”

            Yukio gave her a perfect imitation of ‘soulful puppy dog eyes’ and Inuyasha blanched.

_‘He **is**  turning into me!’_

            His pleading expression fell on a hardened heart. “Now Otou and I are going to go have our time, and  ** _you_**  are going to be a  ** _good_**  pup and  ** _stay_**  with Kirara, Shippou and Myouga-jiichan, right? Because if you don’t, you’ll be in trouble and Otou will punish you.”

            Yukio looked his way and tried ‘soulful puppy dog eyes’ on him. He felt his resolve wavering and bit his lip.

_‘How does she say no to either of us when we make that face?’_

            But the thought of not having any alone time with Kagome was even less appealing than refusing his pup what he wanted, and that gave him the strength to hold his ground.

            “Listen to Okaa, pup. If we go off and you follow, I’ll put you over my knee. Got it?”

            Yukio’s eyes widened at the threat and he shrunk back against his mother, eyes tearing up again and spilling over.

            “Noooooooooooooo.” :Pup good! Pup good.:

            :Obey Leader-male,: he ordered.

            “Are you going to be good and stay with Kirara and Shippou?” Kagome asked.

            Yukio nodded sadly.

            “Ye-e-e-sss.”

            “You promise?”

            “Yes.”

            “Good. Remember promises have to be kept, right?”

            Yukio nodded again. He knew keeping promises was very important to his parents and was one of the values they were doing their best to instill in him.

            “That’s right, pup. A man’s word is his bond. If you can’t be trusted to keep your word, then no one will ever trust you with anything,” he reasserted. “Are you a man?”

            Yukio nodded dutifully, and Inuyasha gave him a grunt of satisfaction. “Then you’ll keep your word and leave Okaa and me alone until we come back.”

            “And we will be back, baby. Before you go to sleep. We’ll all get into my sleeping bag together, and you’ll snuggle up between us like always, safe and warm. Okay?” Kagome added.

            With a final pout and sniff, Yukio nodded. “Okay.”

            Kagome smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s my brave boy. Who’s a big dog?”

            The toddler beamed. “Me!”

            “Good. That’s what I like to hear,” she said as she gently placed him next to Kirara. “Be good now. Okaa and Otou will be back soon.”

            “Not that soon,” he corrected, murmuring in her ear as he nipped at the lobe.  _‘I’d keep you to myself all night if I had the choice.’_

            “Hush.”

            He growled then sighed as she nuzzled him. Reaching down, he rubbed his pup’s ears and gave him a smile.

            “You be good and keep an eye on the others, pup. Especially that fox. He’s a tricky one.”

            “Hey!” Shippou complained.

            He snickered and gave the kit a smirk, then he wrapped his arms around Kagome and pulled her close.

_‘Mine.’_

            “Ready?” he asked.

            She nodded and he could smell the beginnings of her excitement. Gathering her up, he leapt off, taking her back to the banks of the hot spring.

            “Back here?” she asked as he set her down.

            “You don’t like it? I thought it would be nice. You could bathe afterwards…”  _‘Did I make the wrong choice?’_

            “Yes, but Kikyou was just…”

             _‘Here. Oh. I understand.’_  “We could find another onsen. Where there’s one, there are usually others.”

            She looked up at him, pleading and apologetic. “Please?”

            “Heh, so my Kagome still gets jealous,” he teased, then raised his head to sniff the area. He thought he caught the scent of another spring not too far away.

            “This way,” he said, motioning for her to get on his back.

            She obeyed and wrapped her legs around his hips, bringing her soft spot right against his spine and deliberately rubbing it against him as he moved. Her arousal wafted into his nose and his own body reacted with enthusiasm.

            “Stop that, woman, or we won’t get to the spring,” he warned.

            “Stop what?” she asked innocently.

            He just gritted his teeth and growled in frustration. ‘ _I’ll make you pay for that, tease.’_

            The second onsen was smaller, but thankfully not as hot.  ** _This_**  one he would be able to tolerate and that pleased him because he liked bathing with Kagome, especially after lovemaking.

            “Is this better?” he asked.

            Her answer was a deep kiss that he took as a ‘yes’ and he returned her kiss eagerly.

            “I love you,” she whispered.

            He shivered at the words and licked her neck. “I… I love you, koishii,” he stammered, still half-afraid to admit it because then it would be real and it could be taken away.

            There. He’d said it. He’d finally said it, and the words broke the last chains from around his heart. He could almost hear them shattering and falling in tiny orphaned links, and his heart, open at last, beat wildly with its newfound freedom.

_‘Kagome will never betray you. Never.’_

            She gasped and kissed him again, her hands cupping his face, and he could smell the tears on her cheeks.

            “Inuyasha. I love you, Inuyasha.”

            “I love you, Kagome,” he repeated, licking at the salty wetness on her skin.

            They fell together, landing on the soft grass and he took off his haori to use as a makeshift blanket. Kissing her, he covered her with his body, his hands caressing and stroking as they sought to bare her flesh to his hungry mouth and eyes.

            “Ah, Inuyasha. Inuyasha,” she panted over and over as he licked his way across her willing form.

            “I love you,” he said again as he held her open and delved his tongue into her core.

            He loved licking her, mostly because she loved it so much and pleasing her always meant he was being a good lover, but also because he loved the taste of her, the smell of her. The place where her scent was strongest drew him like a moth to flame, and he emmersed himself in the sensations, losing himself to the pleasure of satisfying her. She let out a strangled cry as he worked her and grabbed his ears, rubbing them in time with his rhythm. Her scent and flavor exploded all across his senses, and her sounds were music in his sensitive ears as he brought her to climax.

            He was in her before she stopped shuddering, sliding home with one thrust as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him in. Her back arched and she lifted up to meet him with each stroke, tightening her muscles around him and driving him insane. He didn’t last long and neither did she, and he came with her name and another ‘I love you’ on his lips.

            Afterwards they both slipped into the hot spring and he made love to her a second time on its bank, and again in the onsen itself although that was a little trickier. He couldn’t get enough of her; couldn’t get enough of her body, her moans, her hands on his back and her nails scraping along his skin in her ecstacy. He couldn’t get enough of his telling her he loved her and hearing that she loved him in return. He couldn’t get enough of loving her with everything he had, of finally being free to make her his for good, and promising her his life forever.

            It was as if everything he had lived through and suffered up to now had been preparing him, honing him for this reward, and now he knew what he was being offered and would be a fool to use or mistreat it. Not that he would. He had absolutely no intention of ever letting Kagome go, or of ever harming her or betraying her in any way.

_‘Naraku could never have turned us against each other.’_

            Kagome was a precious gift as was his son; both of them gave a lonely, wounded hanyou a second chance to belong somewhere and be part of a family.

_‘Not to mention the lovemaking. Can’t forget the lovemaking. The lovemaking is awesome.’_

            “You’ll want a wedding, right?” he asked her when they’d caught their breath and were just soaking in the spring. Her head was resting on his shoulder and she had one hand on his chest. He was sated, happy and surrounded by her love.

            “Mmmmm, Mama and Jii-chan will.”

            “In your time?”

            She nodded.

            “I know nothing about the customs of your time.”

            She shrugged. “Things havn’t changed that much in 500 years. The clothing has changed a bit, but I don’t mind having a traditional Shinto wedding.”

            “Will you want one here?”

            “Hmmmm, might be nice to have a little something. Kaede can officiate and Yukio can be in it.”

            He grunted an agreement. “Okay.”

_‘I think it will be nice to marry you. The villagers will see me build you a house and make my vows, and they will know that I am honorable.’_

            “Have you thought about what you’ll wish for?” she asked suddenly.

            “On the jewel?”

            “Yeah.”

            “A little, but I havn’t really decided yet.”

            She snuggled closer. “I trust you. You’ll make a good wish.”  

_‘You have such faith in me. I wish I had as much faith in me as you do.’_

            “I love you,” he said for the umpteenth time.

            “Mmmmmmm, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say that.”

            He chuckled. “I hope not. Koishii,” he answered, kissing her temple.

            “As much as I hate to leave here, we should be getting back. We promised Yukio we wouldn’t be gone too long and I think it’s been almost three hours.”

            He sighed and petted her back but reluctantly agreed. “Yeah.”

            Together they got out of the onsen and dried each other off. Then he dressed her in her clothes, taking time to kiss her soft places in promise of more loving to come at a later time. She responded by going down on him and giving him another climax to hold him over until they got back to the village. Then they slowly returned to camp after a few more ardent kisses and ‘I love you’s.

            The others were waiting for them when they got back. Yukio raced towards them and jumped into Kagome’s arms. They both coddled and nuzzled him, which made him quickly forget all his earlier upset about being left behind. Reassured that all was well with his parents, the toddler started showing signs of his fatigue and they retired for the night. Each of them took their usual places in Kagome’s sleeping bag and they cuddled in happy contentment. In the morning they would return the Shikon no Tama back to the village where everything had begun, and prepare for the final task destiny had in store for them: the wish and dissolution of the sacred jewel.

 


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

 

            Within the first week of returning to the village, Kagome had answered her own question about where all of Tokyo ’s trees had gone. It seemed that Inuyasha was hell-bent on cutting the whole of ‘his’ forest down in order to build her house. He felled huge trees and stripped them of their limbs and bark, giving them to the village woodsmiths to smooth and polish. Then he set about preparing the foundation, showing her where the first support logs would be sunk into the ground and marking the perimeter of the dwelling.

            Seeing the preliminary preparations for the house, she was struck by an odd sense of déjà vu. Inuyasha had chosen a home site that was  ** _exactly_**  on the land where her house in Tokyo stood in the Modern Age. What was so disturbing about that was the fact that years ago Jii-chan had pointed out markers on the concrete around their house that defined the foundations of a much larger structure that had once occupied the place where their house now stood. What she now realized was that those foundation markers were for  ** _this_**  house, the one Inuyasha was building for her, and that she would live in  ** _both_**  houses that occupied the same space, just five hundred years apart. The thought was actually very unsettling to her because it was obvious that the house Inuyasha had built her did  ** _not_**  exist in the Modern Age, but yet it should have weathered the centuries with the way he was building it. She made a note to ask Jii-chan if he knew what had happened to the bigger house.

            The house went up quickly with a hanyou as its primary builder. He did not need sleep or much extra help, and the frame and most of the roof was completed within two weeks. In fact, most of the delay was due to Inuyasha having to wait for the human artisans to finish with things like the shoji, polished logs and carved stone shingles. Luckily, there was a lot going on in the Modern Age that kept calling them back to Tokyo , and that kept Inuyasha from going ballistic with impatience.

            Kagome turned eighteen and there was a party that she went to with her friends, and then she came home later for more ‘birthday sex.’ She was pretty sure if her mother hadn’t figured out that she and Inuyasha were lovers beforehand, she knew now because her headboard had slammed against the wall a couple of times in their enthusiasm, and she’d also run into a mostly naked Inuyasha coaxing his son to use the toilet instead of going outside the ‘den.’

            The other major milestone was her high school graduation, and no one was more shocked than Kagome that her schooling was now officially over. She didn’t know if she was going to go to college, but she decided that she had time to make that choice and opted to take a year off to get her life in the Sengoku Jidai settled first. Inuyasha and Yukio came to the ceremony. She could see them sitting on the roof of the school, looking down over the proceedings. He knew to wait for her signal before coming down and was dressed in a new set of modern clothes Mama had purchased for him. The moment the ceremony was over and she made sure she had her actual diploma in her hands, she waved to them and he was by her side almost instantly. Now that she had officially finished high school and had her diploma, there was nothing the school administrator could say about her baby.

            Ayumi was there, saw Inuyasha with Yukio, and came running over to see them. Unfortunately, Eri and Yuka had come to the graduation as well, and their jaws dropped when they saw Kagome with the man they had met at the house that one time  ** _with_**  a toddler that looked just like him. It also didn’t help that they were wearing identical outfits, complete with matching hats. The girls tittered, stared and turned eight shades of red when Inuyasha stood up close to Kagome, put one arm around her and grinned as the toddler reached for her and very clearly called her “Okaa-san.” Their embarrassment increased when Houjou appeared just behind Ayumi’s shoulder. Apparently, he had come to the ceremony to watch a cousin graduate.

            Kagome braced for the pissing contest between the two males, but it never came. Houjou sized up Inuyasha and Inuyasha sized up Houjou, and they both seemed to silently come to an agreement that fighting over Kagome would not be a good thing. The only comment Houjou made was something to the extent of ‘Be good to her. She’s a good woman.’ to which Inuyasha heartily agreed.

            After graduation, everyone went to a post-graduation party to mingle and say their final good-byes to their classmates and teachers. Kagome made a token appearance but left after thanking all of her teachers, opting instead to attend her own private party back at the shrine. Mama prepared a special meal and all of them gathered around to give Kagome gifts and celebrate her achievement. Inuyasha seemed especially nervous and she thought it was because he didn’t have a gift for her, but then he shyly presented her with a necklace made of small polished beads the same color blue as her high school uniform strung on a very thin braid of his hair.

            “I thought you should keep wearing blue even though you won’t have to wear that uuu-neee-form anymore,” he said.

            At first she was so shocked she didn’t know what to say and he thought she didn’t like it. The crushed and wounded look on his face cut her to the quick, and she scrambled to reassure him that she loved it very much. She asked him if he had made it with his own hands, and he blushed and replied that it had been a joint creation between himself, Sango, Miroku and the trader who brought the beads. She put it on immediately and kissed him senseless right in front of everyone else. Then she announced their engagement, and Souta rolled his eyes and said it was about time.

            Mama gave them a knowing smile and Jii-chan said they had to pick a date to reserve the shrine. Kagome pouted and said she wanted to get married in Hawaii like all the other Japanese girls dreamed, but that idea was shot down when Inuyasha asked ‘What’s Hawaii?’ and Mama asked ‘How will Inuyasha handle flying in a plane?’ Visions of him creating a scene when they tried to take Tessaiga from him filled her mind and she quickly nixed the Hawaiian wedding. Jii-chan told her he could probably reserve the shrine run by a colleague in Yokahama that had a lovely view and nice gardens.

            By the time her birthday and graduation were over, two months had passed and Kagome was starting to wonder what Kikyou had meant by ‘soon.’ The Shikon no Tama was complete and she wore it around her neck, never taking it off. The fully re-formed jewel attracted twice as much trouble as the shards themselves, and Kagome was very eager to be rid of it so the village would stop being put in danger by youkai hunting for its power. It seemed that every other day a new threat arrived that Inuyasha had to deal with in one way or another, and while her hanyou was overjoyed to have things to kill in order to work out his frustrations about the slowness of human woodsmiths and stone masons, she was terrified for the villagers every time one showed up.

            Finally, almost ten weeks since they had last seen her, Kikyou arrived in the village. The return of the undead miko who was sister to Kaede caused quite a stir, and the town was in a state of chaos for most of the day. When things calmed down, Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Kaede, Kikyou and the village headman all sat down together to discuss the fate of the jewel. It was decided that Inuyasha would make his wish upon the cursed jewel. If the wish was pure and good, it was believed that the jewel would vanish from the world and that Midoriko’s soul would move on. Inuyasha said he knew what he was going to wish for, but he would not reveal the details of it to anyone, not even Kagome.

            Kagome was concerned about the wish, but more so about something Kikyou had said to her. She asked Kagome if she was prepared to make the sacrifice she would be asked to make, and explained that the time slip would probably stop working once the jewel was no longer in existence. Kagome hadn’t really given the jewel’s connection to the time slip much thought recently, but the undead miko’s words struck home, and she begged that they put off the wish for two days so she could go home and prepare her family for the possibility that they might never see her again.

            “I’ll go with you and bring the pup. Your mother has been good to me and I would like to say good-bye. And she’ll want to see the pup one last time,” Inuyasha told her as she headed nervously for the well.

_‘One last time… Is it really possible that I might not be able to return?’_

            “Thank you. I’ll… I’ll feel better if you’re there to support me. This is going to be very hard for me.”

            “You must bring whatever you think you will want from your room. Fill several bags and I’ll carry them across while the well still works.”

             _‘Whatever I think I’ll want? How about everything?’_  she thought, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she just nodded and gave him a small smile.

            Yukio, wide-eyed and quiet because he knew his parents were upset, clung to Inuyasha and looked at her with a worried expression on his little face. She blew him a kiss and touched his nose, making him look cross-eyed at her finger.

            “Go see Mama-baachan?” she asked.

            At the sound of the name, Yukio cracked into a huge grin and he clapped his hands. “Mama-baachan! Mama-baachan!”

 _‘And suddenly he is all smiles and all is right with the world because he’s going to see his grandmother and she will give him candy,’_  she thought wryly.

            Inuyasha held Yukio close to his chest with one arm and put the other around her as they leaped into the well and passed through the time slip.

             _‘If I’m trapped in the Sengoku Jidai, I’m certain I’d try to send a message to Mama and Jii-chan telling them what happened. But how would I do that? I could leave a message in the well… I know! I could have Inuyasha carve a message in the well for Mama and Jii-chan, and tell them where to look for it. But… if I get trapped in the past and ask Inuyasha to carve a message, wouldn’t it be here in the Modern Era?’_

            “Inuyasha?” she asked as he went ahead of her to leave the well house.

            He stopped, still holding Yukio and looked at her. “Yeah?”

            “If we get trapped in the past and I ask you to carve a message to Mama and Jii-chan in the well, wouldn’t it be here now?”

            He blinked and she could see the wheels turning. “Huh?”

            “If we get trapped in the Sengoku Jidai, and I wanted to send a message to Mama and Jii-chan here by having you carve a message in the well, wouldn’t that message exist  ** _here_**   ** _now_** because we would have carved it  ** _back_**   ** _then_**?” she explained.

            “So… if the well stops working, you’ll ask me to carve a message into the wood letting your mother and the old man know what happened.”

            “Yes. I’ll ask you to carve a message…” She looked at the rim of the well, and pointed to a place on the inside of one of the sides. “Here. So… theoretically if we get trapped in the past, there should be a message right here.”

            She looked around, examining the wood inside the well, but didn’t see anything. “Inuyasha, can you look?”

            He came to her and handed her Yukio then carefully inspected the inside of the well himself.

            “I can’t see anything.”

            A shiver of hope ran through her and she smiled. “So, if there is no message, then the well must not close.”

            Inuyasha thought for a moment. “But there is no way of knowing if this is the same wood as the well in our time. That well may have been rebuilt or replaced with new wood.”

            Her heart sank. “Oh.” Then she spotted something that lifted her spirits. “No… this is the same wood. Look here, this is where you and Miroku repaired the edge that was damaged when you shoved a tree down the well that one time,” she said, pointing to a section of the well rim that looked different from the rest.

            Inuyasha inspected the section and nodded. “Yeah. It must be.”

            “So… if this is the same wood and there’s no message, then the well must stay open,” she reasoned hopefully.

            He blinked at her. “I guess.”

            She smiled at him and followed him out of the well house.  _‘So the well doesn’t close after all. I wonder then what happened to the house Inuyasha built for me. And what happened to our den?’_

            There was another answer, of course, that she dreaded to even consider; that one being that the well  ** _did_**  close but that she was trapped in the Modern Era while he was forced to stay in the Sengoku Jidai. She shuddered at the thought and shook it off as quickly as possible.

            “Mama-baachan!” Yukio’s voice greeted happily and she knew that her mother was home.

            “Tadaima!” she announced as she came in through the genkan, leaving her shoes on the rack.

            Inuyasha, barefoot as always, preceded her and she joined the both of them in the kitchen.

            “Okaeri nasai,” Mama greeted, already taking a laughing Yukio from his father. “How’s my big boy?”

            “Good! Good!” Yukio replied, hugging her.

            “Bad,” Inuyasha corrected. “He’s been running rampant and getting into everything.”

            Mama giggled. “Toddlers do that. I remember when Kagome was three and managed to get herself trapped on the roof. I still don’t know how she got up there.”

            A vague memory triggered in her mind at the sound of her mother’s words. She saw a brief flash of white and heard a deep, throaty chuckle, then the feeling of flying high above the trees but yet knowing she was perfectly safe. A little frown crossed her face as the memory faded and she couldn’t get it back.

            “Heh, we’ve had to get him down off a few roofs, haven’t we, Kagome?”

            She shook off her feeling of disconcertion and smiled at him. “Oh yes we have. Like most dogs I know, he can go up, but he can’t get down,” she teased.

            “Oi!” he huffed, but she just giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

            “I must say I’m surprised to see the two of you so soon,” Mama said.

            Kagome lowered her eyes, remembering why they had come. “I know Mama. We… we wanted to come see you and Jii-chan before Inuyasha made his wish on the Shikon no Tama. There’s… there’s a chance that the well won’t work after the jewel is gone.”

            “I… I see,” Mama replied carefully.

            “But… but I don’t think it’s going to close. I know if I got trapped on the other side I’d try to send you and Jii-chan a message carved in the well, but there’s nothing there. That  ** _is_**  the original well, isn’t it?” she added quickly.

            “As far as I know,” Mama answered.

            “I’ll talk to Jii-chan and ask him just to be sure, but I think if I left a message in the well back then, it would be there now. You know, like in the movie  _Back to the Future_ , when Marty wrote Doc that letter in the past, Doc had it with him in the future and knew to wear the bullet-proof vest.”

            “But… wouldn’t you have seen it already if it was there?” Mama asked, nodding.

            “Not if I didn’t know what I was looking for. Inuyasha’s writing is very unique and he uses the old kanji.”

            “Oh?”

            “You should see his writing, Mama. It’s beautiful; just like the ancient ink paintings.”

            “Oi, it’s not  ** _that_**  nice,” Inuyasha corrected, blushing.

            “It is. Don’t be so modest.”

            Mama turned interested eyes his way. “Really? Would you be willing to address the invitations then?”

            “Eh? Invitations?”

            “To the wedding, dear. We send invitations out about two months in advance, and it’s best to have them addressed by hand,” Mama clarified. “I would do it myself, but if your writing is as nice as Kagome says it is, the envelopes would look nicer if you wrote them out. It’s not typically something a man would do, but…”

            “I’ll do it,” he replied. “If it’s what Kagome wants.”

            He looked to her and she nodded, smiling happily, then frowned at her mother.

            “But Mama… you know we want a small wedding. Just close family and friends. I know it’s tradition to invite as many guests as possible but…”

            Mama nodded. “I understand. I’ll keep the guest list under fifty.”

            “ ** _Fifty?!_**  Do we  ** _know_** that many people?” she gasped.

            “Well, there are a number of family connections that would be upset not to get an invitation. They most likely won’t come though.”

            Kagome sighed and her heart stopped pounding. “I hope not. Unless we get married at night on the New Moon, Inuyasha is going to have his ears, and regardless either Yukio or Inuyasha is going to have to wear a hat.”

            Mama beamed and fluffed Inuyasha’s hair. “I was thinking a full Western-style tuxedo with tails and a top hat.”

            “I’m not wearing anything with tails,” Inuyasha snorted.

            Kagome snickered. “Not those kinds of tails. The coat is long in the back. I’ll show you pictures.”

            He just blinked at her.

            “Anyway all these details can be worked out later, after we know the well stays open. In the meantime, we just want to spend time with you, Souta and Jii-chan, and I need to pack some things from my room to take with me just in case the well  ** _does_**  stop working. I should probably do some shopping too.”

            Mama nodded. “I’ll make Oden for dinner.”

            “Oden!” she exclaimed and hugged her mother. “Thank you, Mama. That would be wonderful.”

            “Oden,” Yukio repeated, smiling. “Ramen?”

            Mama rubbed the toddler’s ears. “Ramen too, for my good boy.”

            “Oi, what about me?” Inuyasha growled.

            Mama rubbed his ears too and soothed him. “For you too of course, Inuyasha.”

            “Feh.”

            Kagome laughed and then she and Inuyasha went up to her room while Yukio stayed with his grandmother. She pulled out two soft-sided suitcases from her closet and filled them up with clothing and other items that she did not want to be without should she get trapped on the other side. She made a mental note to stock up on toiletries, ramen noodles and condoms when she and Inuyasha went shopping.  
            After she was finished in her room, she and Inuyasha went downstairs and Kagome helped her mother in the kitchen while Inuyasha played with Yukio in the living room. Every now and then, the toddler would get away from him and coming running in, laughing his head off as his father chased him about. Half the time, she thought Inuyasha let him get away just so they’d both get attention from her.

            Dinner was the promised Oden and ramen noodles for her hanyous, and everyone enjoyed it. Afterwards, Kagome sat with Jii-chan and told him of the possibility of the well closing after Inuyasha made his wish. She asked him if any messages had ever been passed down through the Higurashi shrine that could be from her, but the old man shook his head. He also confirmed that the well in the well house was the original well and had not been rebuilt as far as he knew. His answer brought her a great deal of relief, but another of his answers made her wonder again about what was to come.

            Jii-chan had no idea what had happened to the original house on the property, only that it had been gone for his whole lifetime. He, like her mother, herself and Souta, had been born into the house that now stood on the old foundation, and there were no pictures or descriptions of the house that had once occupied the same space. Most houses were destroyed by fire, and she worried that a youkai or other attack had burned the house down many centuries ago.

            “See… Jii-chan says the posts for the original house were here,” she told Inuyasha, pointing to a marker in the concrete around her house.

            She and her adult hanyou had come outside after dinner for a little bit of fresh air because Inuyasha didn’t like to be cooped up inside for too long.

            “So?” he replied, crossing his arms.

            “So, these are the foundations for our house, Inuyasha. The one you’re building in the Sengoku Jidai. It’s not  ** _here_**  and no one knows what happened to it.”

            She saw him follow her train of thought, but the conclusion didn’t seem to bother him as much as it did her.

            “Yeah?” he said.

            “Don’t you wonder what happened to it?”

            “Does it matter?”

            “Huh?”

            “If something happens to our house, Kagome, I’ll build you a new one. Maybe this one burned down or got too small for all the pups, and we built one somewhere else. Maybe we moved to another village if ours got too big and noisy,” he explained without concern.

            “But it means the house you built won’t last through to this time.”

            He shrugged. “Most don’t.”

            “But… doesn’t it make you wonder what happened?”

            “No. A house is a just a house, Kagome. I don’t care where we live as long as we’re together.”

            The way he said ‘together’ tripped her warning bells and she frowned as another explanation crossed her mind.

             _‘Or maybe he tore it down after I died… Would he continue to live in the house he built me if I was no longer there to live in it?’_

            She quickly decided to change the subject.

            “I wonder what happened to our den,” she mused. “Probably buried under two meters of concrete by now.”

            He shrugged and picked her up, hopping easily on top of the back wall of the shrine and facing in the direction of where the den would have been. She was surprised to see a copse of trees in what appeared to be about the right area where the den was located.

            “Huh,” Inuyasha said, noticing the same thing she did.

            Curious, she climbed onto his back and urged him forward to investigate. He gave her a questioning look, but obliged her and they bounded off. The distance wasn’t all that far away from her house and no major streets separated the two properties, and soon they were standing before a very tall stone wall that was oddly reminiscent of the type of hei that surrounded ancient castles. Inuyasha jumped on top of it, balancing easily on the pointed roofed edge, and they could now see part of the roof of a very large, grand house off in the distance. The wall seemed to surround the property which appeared to be a very sizable estate and a monstrous portion of land by modern day standards. Kagome was shocked that the city hadn’t seized it for building purposes. Her family’s shrine escaped eminent domain only because it was a designated holy place. This looked like a private residence.

             _‘Why did I forget this was here?’_  she wondered.

            Looking around from their high perch, she saw the stream that ran right by their den.

_‘It’s still here… Does that mean…’_

            Suddenly she really didn’t want to see the den, didn’t want to know what happened to it. It was almost a compulsion willing her to leave and go back the way she came. It was so strong that it was making her skin crawl.

            She felt Inuyasha shift to move forward but stopped him.

            “Wait, Inuyasha.”

            “Eh? Don’t you want to see?”

            “Yes, but… this place belongs to someone and I am sure they have security. If we go onto their property, we could get in big trouble.”

            “Feh! Like I care.”

            The feeling of wrongness increased, making her even more uncomfortable.

            “I do. We don’t need any trouble right now, Inuyasha. Let me ask my mother who owns this place. Maybe Jii-chan knows them and we can get permission to go exploring, okay? It’s enough to know that it’s still forest for now, right?”

            “Feh.  ** _You_**  were the one wondering about it, wench, not me.”

             _‘Is that because you don’t want to know either, because you think, if we did get trapped, that I died centuries ago? Did you tear down our house and destroy our den in your grief?’_  she thought sadly.

            She hugged his shoulders and gave him a little squeeze. “Let’s go back.”

            He gave her a tolerant look, but nodded. “Okay. You still need to show me a picture of this coat with ‘tails’ that your mother wants me to wear.”

            He turned and bounded back to the shrine. Kagome made him stop for a moment and she went into a store to buy a bridal magazine that had photographs of Western style tuxedos in it, and they headed the rest of the way home.

            “Mama,” she asked as they entered the living room where she, Jii-chan, and Souta were sitting watching the evening news. Yukio was with them, playing with some toys on the floor.

 _‘ **More**  toys? Mama, you have to stop this…’_ she sighed mentally. _  
_“Do you know who owns that property with all the trees? The one with the high hei surrounding it?” she finished.

            “Behind the shrine?” Mama questioned.

            “Yeah.”

            Mama looked at Jii-chan and knowing glances passed between them. “That’s part of the Fushikenwa Estate,” Mama answered.

            “Fushikenwa ?”  _‘That’s one of the most powerful names in all of Japan …’_

            “Yes. That’s their Tokyo home. It’s usually empty this time of year, although I think they have staff that live there and tend to it year-round,” Mama explained.

            “Oh.”

            “I’m surprised you don’t remember. You used to go wandering over there all the time when you were just a little girl.”

            “I did?”

            Mama nodded. “It was just after Souta was born. I would be busy caring for him and you’d go off. Several times you were caught in the forest over there. Apparently you were getting in through the gate over the stream. You were small enough to slip through the bars.”

            Another memory resurfaced and Kagome saw green everywhere, tall trees, and a man with white hair and a happy smile.

            “Did a man with white hair bring me back?” she asked suddenly.

            “White hair? No. He had black hair. A sweet young man with the brightest smile. After the first time you were found there, he’d carry you back on his shoulders and bring you home.”

            More memories, dim with age, played for her: the man, still with white hair, laughing and coming towards her.

             _“Here again, little one? Your mother is probably worried about you. I know mine would be. Best I take you back, ne? It’s no good for you to be wandering about in here anyway. Never know what you might stumble into.”_

            He’d pick her up effortlessly and put her on his shoulders, and then they… flew? No, it couldn’t be. It only seemed like they were flying because he ran so fast.

            “Kagome?” Inuyasha’s voice questioned, bringing her out of her memories.

            “Huh? Oh. Ummm… I remember a man with white hair who would carry me like that.”

            Mama shook her head. “The man who brought you back always had black hair. I think he was one of the security guards, although he didn’t wear a uniform.”

            “Did he ever tell you his name?”

            “If he did, I don’t remember. It was long ago.”

            Kagome grew quiet and pensive until Yukio commanded her attention by grabbing her leg.

            “Okaa-san!”

            She smiled down at him, noting that he had a pretty bright smile himself.

_‘You’re always happy aren’t you, baby. You’re such a happy boy.’_

            Picking him up, she swung him once and then braced him against her side.

            “Ooof, you’re getting heavy. Are you eating too much ramen?” she teased.

            “No,” he answered immediately, not getting the joke.

            She laughed and kissed him, sitting down with him in her lap. Inuyasha settled next to her and they all watched television together. Later Souta managed to get Inuyasha to play some video games with him, and they watched that, laughing at the antics the two got up to. By unspoken agreement, they all stayed together as a family for the evening, separating only when it was time for bed, and even then Kagome and Inuyasha stayed up late with Mama and Jii-chan long after Souta had gone to his room and Yukio had passed out in his father’s arms.

            It wasn’t until well after midnight that they finally retired for the evening. Inuyasha placed a still sleeping Yukio in the crib Mama had bought to replace the basinet that had gotten too small, and climbed into bed with her. They made love only once but it was enough, then they retrieved Yukio and cuddled with him as they all went to sleep. In the morning, they went shopping with her mother, stocking up on the things they would need if the well closed. She managed to get Inuyasha to distract Mama with Yukio long enough for her to buy several boxes of condoms while the older woman wasn’t looking, and sequester them in her bag discreetly.

            By the time they finished at the store, it was lunchtime so Mama bought bento for all of them and they ate in the park. There was a playground there so they took a short time to play with Yukio on the swings and slide before heading back to the shrine. All in all, it was a beautiful day filled with smiles and laughter, and Kagome thought if the well did close that it had been a wonderful last day in Modern Japan that they all would cherish.

            The whole family turned up to wish them good-bye. Mama handed her another bento box of food for all of her friends, and she added it to the mountain of stuff she had to take with them. She hugged and kissed Mama, Jii-chan and Souta and thanked them for everything- just in case it would be the last time she ever saw them. Inuyasha said his good-byes too, accepting a hug from Mama and giving Souta one, and bowing to Jii-chan for the first time she had ever seen him bow to anyone. Yukio, oblivious to what was happening, hugged and kissed his grandmother and great-grandfather with the same open affection he always did.

            Kagome managed not to cry until the very end when she saw tears in her mother’s eyes.

            “Sayonara, Mama,” she whispered softly.

            “Sayonara, Kagome.”

            “I swear, if we do get trapped, I will find a way to let you know. I promise.”

            “I’m glad. Thank you, Kagome.”

            She sniffed a few times and wiped away her tears, then Inuyasha handed Yukio to her so he could carry the bags, and she picked up the bento box and two sacks of groceries. With a final wave and wish farewell, they jumped through the time slip and reemerged on the other side.

            They brought the bento box into the village for the others and gave Kaede all the medical supplies they had purchased. Kikyou was in the hut with her sister and seemed very intrigued by all of Kagome’s modern first aid supplies. Kaede was more interested in the bento box Kagome had just for her.

            More plans were made for the following day. The ceremony would begin at dawn. Kagome was to bathe, purify the jewel one last time and make sure it was completely pure before giving it to Inuyasha. The actual wish wouldn’t take place until late morning after all the prayers and preparations had been made. This time there would be three powerful mikos present to keep the jewel pure until the end. They could only hope it would be enough to keep the jewel’s natural propensity for evil in check.

            When there was no more to be said, Kagome left Inuyasha with Kikyou, giving them some time together and walked back to the den with Yukio. Inuyasha didn’t realize that she had gone for the den until she was almost there, and he admonished her for going off into possibly youkai infested woods without him to protect her.

            “Where else would I have gone?” she asked.

            “Keh! To the monk’s hut. That’s where I  ** _thought_**  you were going.”

            “Why would I go there?”

            “To wait for me. I told you I would only be a short while. Why did you go on without me?”

            He almost seemed hurt that she would leave for home without him.

            “I’m sorry. It just seemed like the right place to go. It’s late, Yukio and I are tired, and the den was the natural choice.”

            He gave her a little nod that he understood and put an arm around her.

            “So, what did you and Kikyou talk about after I left?” she asked as they walked along through the forest.

            She felt him stiffen and regretted her question immediately.

            “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

            “The past,” he admitted. “Where we went wrong. How Naraku tricked us so easily. We are trying to make sure nothing like that happens again tomorrow. We have decided to say special words that only we will know so that we can identify each other, just in case.”

            “Like code words,” she mused.

            “Huh?”

            “In my time, when people need to be sure if a person is the right person they give them a code word. That way when someone asks for their code word, only those who know the code can get in.”

            He nodded. “Yeah. Like that.”

            “So what’s the code word?”

            “Eh?”

            “The word you’re supposed to say so Kikyou will know it’s you.”

            “My mother’s name.”

            “Ah.”

            “And she’ll say her mother’s name because I know it but very few people here do.”

            Kagome nodded. “Do you want to have a code word for you and me?”

            “Your mother’s name?”

            “Okay.”

            They arrived at the den and Inuyasha went in first to make sure no interlopers had tried to move in while they were gone. He signaled that it was safe and she entered with Yukio. The toddler, seeing his bed and blankets, yawned and curled up on his futon. It would be a while before he was invited to snuggle with his parents and he knew it. In minutes he was asleep.

            Inuyasha stripped as usual, stowing his clothes in their place and lit a small fire while she changed into a yukata. She didn’t wear pajamas in the den because Inuyasha liked her in things that were easy to get her out of. Most of the time she didn’t even wear underwear but tonight she left it on. She was feeling a little unsettled with Kikyou in the village and the wish coming so close, and she’d need a little coaxing tonight before she would be ready to join with him. Leaving the panties on was his signal to take things slow and be gentle.

            As soon as the fire was lit and the den warming up, they settled in the bed together. Inuyasha snuggled behind her, one hand slipping into the yukata to cup her breast. It wasn’t always a sexual gesture, although it could be. Usually though, it was just his preferred way of holding her when they were lying together in bed.

            “Do you think the well will stay open?” she asked softly.

            “I don’t know,” he replied simply.

            “If it does close, why wouldn’t the message be there in the well?”

            “I don’t know.”

            She frowned.  _‘Just once I wish he’d make something up to make me feel better instead of being so bluntly honest. Well… it is one of the things I love most about him. My hanyou never lies.’_

            “Kikyou thinks it’s going to close?” she questioned.

            She felt him nod against her back. “Yeah.”

            She gripped the jewel around her neck tightly.  _‘This thing was in my body the first time I went through the well. The only time I’ve been able to go through the time slip **without**  shards has been to go back to my time. That time Inuyasha took the shards from me and pushed me into the well, I wasn’t able to get back here until I felt a shard in the well. Inuyasha, though, he’s always been able to go through… Maybe  **that’s**  why there’s no message in the well, because  **he**  goes through to tell Mama and Jii-chan that I can’t come back…’_

            “You’re brooding,” Inuyasha scolded gently.

            “I’m sorry. I think I’m allowed. It’s a scary thing.”

            He pulled her tight. “I know. But… we have each other and… and the pup. And I’m building the house. You’ll… you’ll have a good life here if it closes. I promise that you’ll want for nothing. I’ll draw you as many hot baths as you like. I studied your… boiler? thing and I think I can make something like it here. Toutousai can forge me a big metal container and I can light a fire under it to keep water warm.”

            He sounded so conciliatory and hopeful that she had to smile in spite of her fears. Yes, he was right, they did have each other and Yukio, and she knew he would do everything within his power to make sure she was as happy as she could be. His devotion was complete and it humbled her sometimes. She’d always thought she was the one who would love him more, but every day he proved her wrong. His loyalty knew no bounds. If she had asked for the moon and stars, she knew he would have found a way to give them to her.

            His hand slipping down to caress her stomach, before traveling lower, distracted her from her thoughts, which was probably his intent, but brought another thought to her already troubled mind.

            “Inuyasha?”

            He groaned softly, realizing that his attempts to seduce weren’t working. “Yeah?”

            “If… do you… would you…” she stammered.

            “Would I, did I what?” he prompted, just a hint of impatience in his voice.

            “Do you think… it would have been harder for you to choose me if we hadn’t… you know… become closer?” she finally managed.

            “You mean would I have had a harder time choosing you over Kikyou if we had never mate… errrr… made love?”

            “Yeah,” she whispered.

            “No,” came the short and simple answer.

            She rolled to her back and looked up at him. “No?”

            “No,” he confirmed. “Even if we had never made love, I would still have chosen you.”

            “Really?”

            He looked a little peeved. “Of course. You think I only love you because you mate with me? You think I am that shallow?”

            “N… no, of course not, I just thought…”

            “That you were Kikyou’s replacement even though I’ve told you time and time again that you are not. Who is doubting who now, hmm?”

            She winced and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

            “Not that it isn’t my fault. How many times did I run to her and leave you wondering if you were second best?”

_‘So he finally understands…’_

            His hand cupped her face and forced her to look at him. “You were  ** _never_**  second best. Kagome is Kagome, no one else, and no one’s replacement.”

            “I… thank you,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes.

            He kissed them away tenderly. “Kagome is Kagome,” he repeated. “Kagome loves me as a hanyou, the only one who ever has. Kagome touches me and holds me and mates with me as a hanyou, and doesn’t see it as a disgrace. Kagome’s power only got stronger after she joined with me instead of weakening. Kagome’s voice and scent are the things I hold onto when the world spins out from underneath me. How could I not choose you? In truth, I’ve been yours for years; I just wasn’t free to tell you.”

            “Inuyasha. I love you, Inuyasha.”

            “I love you, koishii. Please trust me when I say that because I don’t say it lightly. You need to have complete trust in me tomorrow or the jewel will use your doubt against us.”

            “I know. I promise I will trust you.”

            He smiled and kissed her. “Thank you.”

            “Inuyasha.”

            “Now that that’s out of the way, koi, can we make love now?”

            She chuckled, knowing he was pushing just a little to distract her.

            “Besides our son will wake up soon and I don’t want him interrupting us,” he added.

            She reached up and threaded her fingers in his hair, finding his ears to rub and scratch.

            “We wouldn’t want that, now would we?” she breathed, smiling as he closed his eyes in pleasure and let out a low moan.

            “No…”

            “Yes.”

            “Yes?” he repeated, confused.

            “Yes, we can make love now.”

            He gave her a grateful smile. “Oh. Good.”

            “It’d better be,” she teased.

            His smile turned lascivious. “Isn’t it always?”

            She grinned. “Yes.”

            “I thought so. For a moment I was worried I’d lost my touch.”

            She shook her head.

            “Never,” she breathed, pulling him down on top of her and ending their conversation with a heated kiss.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

 

            Dawn broke over the land and somehow Kagome knew it even in the darkness of the den. Her eyes snapped open as she sensed the coming morning, and she quietly roused herself from the blankets which was no small feat because Yukio was cuddled against her as usual and Inuyasha’s limp arm lay draped across her waist. Her adult hanyou made a small sound of protest when she pulled away but did not wake, then she placed Yukio against him and he settled down again with a small sigh. The toddler didn’t even twitch when she moved him.

            Gathering her clothes and bathing supplies, she left the den as silently as she could and made her way to the stream.

             _‘I’m to bathe and purify the jewel,’_  she said to herself, pulling the yukata close to her body.  _‘No thoughts of doubt or fear must touch me today. The jewel must be as untainted as I can make it.’_

            The water was cold as always and the bracing chill woke her up completely as she submerged herself in it. Washing quickly, she made sure she was completely clean before getting out of the stream and drying off on the bank. It seemed odd to her not to dress in her school uniform anymore. She’d been wearing one form or another of it for so long that to suddenly be without the familiar sailor suit felt wrong to her. In deference to that, she had chosen a white dress with blue trim that had a similar crew-neck and a blue scarf. This she wore with her normal cable socks and brown loafers, and, of course, Inuyasha’s necklace which she rarely took off for anything other than bathing. The blue beads and silver hair nestled against her skin just above her heart and tangled with the chain that held the Shikon no Tama.

            Touching the swirling pink jewel, she closed her eyes and brought forth her love for the hanyou, using it to calm her and help her focus.

 _‘Only pure, good thoughts today,’_ she reminded herself. _‘I love Inuyasha. Inuyasha loves me. We will spend our lives together in the house he will build. Our son will grow up big and strong, and never know the pain and hardship his father suffered.’_

            “Inuyasha is a fool,” came a cold voice from behind her and she gasped, whirling around to face the intruder.

            She found Kikyou, her face set into a deep frown, staring at her.

            “Wh… what did you say?” she asked, trying to slow her pounding heart.

            “He left you unprotected with the full jewel. Anything could have come upon you unawares while you were otherwise engaged. It pains me to see that the lessons of the past have not been learned. If he had not left me alone that night, Naraku would have had no chance to attack us both separately,” the undead miko continued.

            Kagome fought to quell her rising irritation. “If I remember correctly from what I was told, he left you because you spent the night in the shrine praying and he wasn’t allowed in,” she countered, defending her lover. “Was he supposed to just sit outside the doors where you had shut him out like an obedient dog?”

            A flicker of emotion passed through Kikyou’s eyes and she smiled slightly, seemingly pleased by Kagome’s immediate defense.

            “Our separation was as much my choosing as his,” Kikyou amended.

             _‘I doubt that. Knowing him as I do, if you’d let him stay with you, he’d have been glued to your side,’_  she thought dourly.

            “But that does not change the fact that he left you undefended at a time when your protection is crucial.”

            “What makes you think he left me undefended? One scream from me and he’d be here in a heartbeat,” she replied.

            Kikyou cast around at the trees, her face never changing. “That is provided you had a chance to scream. Your… den is close by?”

            Suddenly she didn’t want the undead miko knowing the exact location of her and Inuyasha’s safe haven. She crossed her arms and nodded. “Close enough.”

            “You spent the night with him there?”

            She nodded again, not sure where the conversation was going. “Yes. And Yukio was with us too.”

            “You… engaged in carnal pleasures?”

_‘Carnal pleasures? Is that what you think lovemaking is? If you do, I feel so sorry for you Kikyou.’_

            “If you’re asking if Inuyasha and I made love last night, the answer is yes, we made love.”

             A cold smirk came to the undead miko’s face. “That alone should have stripped you of your miko powers.”

            “Well, obviously it didn’t,” she answered, drawing up some purifying energy and running it into her hands for the older miko to see.

            “I know and that is an enigma.”

            “No. I don’t think so. I don’t think purity has anything to do with miko power. Tsubaki still had power and she was evil. You still have yours and you’re dead.”

            She hadn’t meant it to come out as harshly as it had sounded and she winced. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.”

            “Does it matter? It is still the truth.”

            “I guess not. Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you and Kaede would be setting up the ceremony and purifying the shrine.”

            “My sister is engaged in that task. The houshi is assisting her. I came to see if you were performing your duties as guardian of the jewel,” Kikyou replied.

            Kagome drew herself up, a little put out by the insinuation that she might not be doing what she was supposed to.

            “As you can see, I am bathed and actively purifying the jewel.”

            Cold eyes flicked to the swirling bauble around her neck, then focused on the other necklace she wore.

_‘Does she recognize Inuyasha’s hair?’_

            “You must be extremely careful not to taint the jewel today.”

             _‘It’d be a lot easier to do that if you’d stop insulting me and Inuyasha,’_  she thought dourly, but said nothing.  _‘Or maybe… maybe she wants me to get angry and taint the jewel. Maybe she’s not really Kikyou. Maybe she’s a youkai in Kikyou’s form!’_

            She sent out a tendril of power to see if she could tell if it was really Kikyou, but the thread was slapped back. Wincing she stepped away, ready to defend herself or scream for Inuyasha if need be.

            “What’s Inuyasha’s mother’s name?” she blurted.

            Kikyou gave her another cold smile. “So he told you of our special word.”

             _‘Yeah, code word, secret handshake and everything. Just answer the damn question or I’m gonna scream loud enough to wake the whole village.’_

            “Yes, he did. Now tell me the name of Inuyasha’s mother or I’ll scream.”

            “I could tell you, but I have no knowledge of your special word. I would have no way of identifying you.”

            “That’s easy. I’ve got the Shikon no Tama.”

            “You could be a youkai who has stolen Kagome’s form and the jewel,” the undead miko replied reasonably, her mouth curled into a wry smile of amusement.

            “And you could be a youkai who has stolen Kikyou’s form,” she countered.

            “And neither of you are youkai, and both of you should know that because you don’t have any youki,” came a third voice, tired and a little irritated.

            “Inuyasha,” Kagome gasped, seeing the hanyou come walking out of the trees. He was naked from the waist up and carrying Yukio.

            “Okaa-san!” the toddler greeted happily.

            “How do you know, Inuyasha? If we were shape shifters, we could most likely mask our youki,” Kikyou answered.

            Inuyasha shrugged and crossed over to Kagome, putting an arm around her as Yukio hopped into her embrace.

            “Maybe, and maybe you could even mimic her scent. But you can’t mimic the scent of me all over her,” he said, then turned to her. “Pup had to go out.”

            She nodded.

            “I was good! Went outside the den,” Yukio added with a big smile.

            “That’s my big boy. You’re so smart and good.”

            Inuyasha returned his attention to Kikyou, looking at her with concerned eyes and it was obvious that he was wondering what they had been up to. As usual, Kikyou gave nothing away with her expressionless face.

            “Kasumi,” he said purposefully.

            “Izayoi,” Kikyou replied without hesitation.

            Inuyasha nodded with satisfaction, then looked to her and raised an eyebrow.

            “Mama,” she offered.

            He smiled softly. “Besides, you think this one wouldn’t know his mother?” he added, rubbing Yukio’s ears.

            “Ears!” Yukio giggled, covering his puppy ears.

            “It would not be the first time a hanyou’s senses were fooled,” Kikyou commented.

            Inuyasha scowled a little. “Actually, Naraku never bothered to mask his scent. If I had been more trusting and not been so quick to believe it was you, I would have figured out that it was a fake by scent alone. And you should have been able to tell it wasn’t me by the youki. My youki was never as evil or disgusting as that bastard’s.”

            “True,” Kikyou agreed.

            Feeling the growing tension and knowing the bad vibes could taint the easily tainted jewel, Kagome stepped forward and put herself between the two former lovers.

            “Maybe it’s not such a good idea to be dragging all of this up right now,” she suggested, grasping the jewel in her hand.

            “I agree. Kagome, lets go back to the den,” her lover answered.

            His hand touched her arm and lightly grasped her elbow. The gesture wasn’t intimate in any way but it made her shiver regardless; that and seeing him half-naked always made her heart pound a little harder, but she knew she couldn’t go with him. She had bathed and now had to concentrate all of her energies on making sure the jewel was ready for his wish. Before she could gently tell him he had to wait, however, Kikyou spoke in a disdainful voice.

            “You would soil her with your base desires after she has cleansed herself?”

            Inuyasha blinked, then flushed, then grew angry.

            “Oi!” he growled, his eyes dark with hurt and upset.

            “Kikyou…” she began.

            “You make it sound like I rut on her like a mindless animal,” he complained.

            “Aren’t you? I have heard the stories of your trysts from my sister. Sometimes you disappear into your hovel and no one sees you for days. Have you so little control over your lusts that you must sate yourself so often and keep your lover a prisoner in your hole?”

            Inuyasha sputtered, his eyes opening wide. “Wh… what?”

            “Kikyou, it’s not like that. Inuyasha never forces me to do anything I don’t want to do,” she defended.

            “Okaa??” Yukio asked, sensing the growing upset and clinging to her more tightly.

            “Shhhh, it’s okay, baby.”

            “He is a beast with no self-control. He always was. Why do you let him touch you? You are a miko. You should not taint yourself with his impurity.”

            Inuyasha flinched and she saw him go pale. The wounded look on his face broke her heart, and she hurried to reassure him.

            “Okay, that’s enough. I don’t know why you’re doing this Kikyou, but it stops right now! There is nothing impure or tainted about Inuyasha, and he’s not a beast. He’s a sweet, wonderful, devoted man and I love him. And if you ever loved him as much as he says you did, you wouldn’t say such horrible things about him.”

            The undead miko was undaunted. “He is a lowly hanyou; a dirty half-breed spawned by a human and an evil demon. It is beneath you to even associate with him and his ilk. That includes the child you now hold.”

            Rage seized her and she gritted her teeth, mustering every ounce of self-control she had not to scratch the bitch’s eyes out. How dare she say such terrible things about Inuyasha and her baby! She clutched Yukio closer to her, noting that the toddler was trying to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible.

            “Now you wait just one minute! Neither Inuyasha or Yukio are beneath me, and I don’t lower myself or dirty myself by loving them! And there is  ** _nothing evil about my baby!_** ” she argued vehemently.

            “His father was a youkai, the same as Inuyasha’s. Their evil runs true in their offspring and there is nothing to be done about it. They are tainted by nature and easily corrupted,” Kikyou countered.

            “I refuse to believe that Inuyasha’s father was evil because he was a youkai,” she replied angrily. “From everything I’ve heard about him, he was a fierce but fair and kind leader who was good to the people living on his lands, and he loved Inuyasha’s mother very, very much. No one who could father a son as loving and devoted as Inuyasha, and forge a sword like Tenseiga- it’s sole purpose being to  ** _raise people from the dead_** \- could be evil.

            “I’ve met lots of youkai who are good and decent people who love and feel pain just the same as we do. Yes, there are evil youkai out there. I’ve met lots of them too, but you know what, humans can be just as evil as youkai and they don’t have any demon blood to blame it on.

            “It’s wrong to judge someone just by who their parents were or what their bloodline is. People should be judged by what they do and how many people they help. And no one should blame an innocent baby for being born, hanyou or not.” 

            Kikyou raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Judged by what they do?” the undead miko repeated. “And what if I were to tell you that your ‘loving’ and ‘devoted’ good hanyou burned down the very village he now protects and is directly responsible for the loss of my sister’s eye?”

            Inuyasha gasped and cast her a guilty, worried look, but that only made her angrier.

            “I already knew that. I also know no one died that day except you and Naraku was responsible for your wounds not Inuyasha, and that the fire was started by accident. As for Kaede’s eye, if she’s forgiven him for it then I’m certainly not going to blame him for something that happened before I was even born. And if you weigh all the good he’s done since the village burned down, he’s more than made up for it. He’s saved hundreds of lives and helped twice that many in the years I have known him. He might pretend not to care, but he does and he always does the right thing no matter what. He’s the most honest, loyal person I have ever met and he would never purposefully take an innocent life.”

_‘Except when he’s transformed… but even then, he only killed the bandits and after that he refused to transform again. That was the whole reason he went after Ryuukotsusei_ _, so he could make Tessaiga lighter and be able to wield it again.’_

            Kikyou looked at Inuyasha. “What do you think of this, Inuyasha?”

            The adult hanyou bared his teeth and growled softly. “What are you up to Kikyou?” he demanded.

            “I am showing her your true nature.”

            “Excuse me, but I’ve  ** _seen_**  his true nature,” Kagome interrupted. “I know exactly what Inuyasha is and what he is not, and I don’t need you trying to make me think less of him.  ** _Nothing_**  you have to say will turn me against him or make me believe he isn’t what I think he is.”

            With that, she stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder and they faced Kikyou together as a unified front. She expected Kikyou to look annoyed or even disgusted, but she wasn’t prepared for the look of calm approval and satisfaction she got instead.

            “Good,” Kikyou said finally after a long, tense silence.

            “Good?” Inuyasha repeated, snorting. “What the hell was that all about?”

            “You harbor no doubts towards Inuyasha in your heart. You have complete faith and confidence in him. This trust is exactly what you need to keep the jewel pure, and prevent it from warping the wish,” the undead miko told her.

            “So this was a… a test?” she blurted.

            “Yes. I was testing your commitment to each other.” She looked at Inuyasha. “Did you see how quickly she defended you and how steadfast she stayed?”

            Inuyasha nodded.

            “You needed to see the depth of her love for you and trust in it. You still harbor fears that she will someday reject you because you are a hanyou. These fears are exactly the type of feelings you cannot afford to have today. You have seen her unequivocal trust and faith in you; now you must have the same faith in her. Do you understand?”

            She felt the tension flow out of him and saw him relax.

_‘And his faith in Kikyou is restored as well as his faith in me.’_

            “I understand, Kikyou.”

            “That being said, she still should not go with you, but rather she should come to the shrine and help with the preparations there.”

            He wilted a little, his ears drooping, but agreed. “Okay.”

            She handed Yukio to him, having to literally peel the toddler off of her claw by grasping claw.

            “Ooof, let go Velcro Baby and go to Otou-san.”

            “Okaa-san. Nooooooo…” Yukio whined.

            Inuyasha took him and gave him a little shake. “Oi. None of that, pup. Okaa-san is busy right now and that means we have to leave her alone. You come with me and be good. I’ll fix us some breakfast and we’ll see Okaa-san later.”

            “Nooooooo…”

            “Oi. You wanna get scruffed?”

            Yukio sniffed loudly and shook his head. “Noooo.”

            “Then behave and do as I say.”

            Kagome leaned over to kiss his little cheek and rub his ears. “Be good for Otou-san.” Then she kissed Inuyasha on the lips. “You be good too. Think happy thoughts about me and that will help you stay positive.”

            “No it won’t because you won’t be there for me to act on my thoughts,” he complained.

            She gave an exasperated sigh. “Hentai.”

            He grinned. “Only for you.”

            “Aren’t I lucky.”

            “You don’t think so?”

            She gave him a soft look and a sweet smile. “Every day of my life,” she admitted and gave him another kiss. “I love you.”

            He breathed softly into her mouth as their lips parted. “And I love you, koi.”

            She stepped away from him and gave Yukio one last rub to his ears. “I’ll see you at the shrine.”

            Inuyasha nodded, his eyes warm. “Okay. I’ll get the pup fed and us ready, and then join you.”

            Grasping the jewel in her hand, she nodded and poured all the love she felt in that moment into it, then she followed Kikyou toward the village.

            “I understand why you did what you did,” she began, hurrying to catch up to the older miko.

            “You and Inuyasha must trust each other. He and I never did. In my heart, I always believed him to be capable of deceiving me.”

_‘And he always thought you would betray him like all the others...’_

            “Thank you,” was all she said.

            “Still, it was foolish of him to leave you unprotected.”

            Now that she thought about it, she really had to agree. She should never have left the safety of the den without Inuyasha. Even though Inuyasha routinely killed any youkai intruders as a matter of course, and dealt with any youkai seeking the Shikon no Tama with extreme prejudice, there was always a chance that a new threat had moved in overnight.

            “That was as much my fault as his,” she admitted. “I didn’t wake him when I left the den.”

            “I never knew him to be a heavy sleeper.”        

            She shrugged. “He can be when he feels safe. The first time he fell asleep on my bed he slept there the whole night and never moved once.”

            Kikyou made a soft ‘hmmm’ sound but otherwise did not answer, and Kagome realized how her offhand comment must have sounded.

            “That... that was before we were... you know... lovers. Wayyyy before. He came to my house while I was trying to study and caused all this trouble. He wouldn’t leave me alone and got into everything. I tried to get my little brother to entertain him but they ended up in the bath and Inuyasha came running back because the water was too hot. He finally passed out on my bed while he was watching me, but only after aggravating me for hours.”

            Kikyou laughed softly. “He always was a persistent distraction.”

_‘Persistent distraction. Yes, he is isn’t he.’_

            “Well, he certainly never lets you forget he’s there.”

            “Inuyasha was never very good at stealth and secrecy. Every time he tried to steal the jewel from me, I always knew he was there well before he ever moved.”

            She giggled, knowing exactly what Kikyou meant, but also knowing that the undead miko was wrong. She heard him because he  ** _let_**  her hear him. Had Inuyasha been serious about killing Kikyou to get the jewel, she would never have seen him coming. It was only the fact that he didn’t really want to harm her that made him break his hanyou silence.

            It seemed very strange to be having such a conversation with Kikyou, and she found herself biting her lip with uncertainty as the two of them walked down the familiar path to the village.

            “Is it really all right?” she asked finally. “For me to be with Inuyasha instead of you?”

            “He and I had our time. It is over now. He has a new life with you and the child you are raising. Besides, you are me. If it were not for the witch Urasue, I would still be inside of you, sleeping my dreamless sleep. So in that way, he  ** _is_**  with me- the me in you.”

            Kikyou’s words warmed her and some of her uncertainty faded as she smiled.

            “Thank you. I’m... I’m glad. Inuyasha says you have been living at the temple Zenko-ji. He says you have found peace and acceptance there.”

            Kikyou nodded. “I have.”

            “I’m glad. Will you return there after... or will you stay in the village for a while?”

            “I have not decided. Much will depend on Inuyasha’s wish and the aftermath.”

            “I hope you’re right and a good and pure wish makes the jewel disappear. Midoriko has been fighting the youkai souls inside the Shikon no Tama for so long. I hope she’ll be able to find peace and go to her rest,” she said absently, holding the jewel in her hand.

            She didn’t see the look of surprise and quiet admiration cross Kikyou’s face as she passed the undead miko and headed up the tall stairs that led to the shrine.

            The scent of incense and purifying herbs was strong as they entered the shrine grounds, and she found Miroku and Kaede deep in prayer.

            “We are setting up a barrier that will, hopefully, keep out any intruders until after the ritual is complete,” the monk explained when he had finished his prayer.

            Kagome knelt next to him and nodded.

            “Are you nervous, Kagome-sama?” he asked.

            “About the wish?”

            He nodded.

            “No. I trust Inuyasha. I’ll be nervous until he gets here. Until the jewel is gone it’s still attracting youkai and men with evil hearts, and I’m worried about what we will do if we are attacked during the ritual.”

            “The barrier will keep them out.”

            “Out of here, but what about the village? With you, me, Inuyasha and Kaede all here, who is left to defend the village? We’d need a barrier to cover the whole town before it would be safe,” she said.

            Miroku’s eyes rose up to look at Kikyou and the undead miko nodded. “Leave that to me.”

_‘Oh yeah, that’s right. Kikyou is strong enough to make a barrier big enough to surround the village.’_

            “Kikyou-onee-sama,” Kaede greeted, ending her prayer.

            “It appears that we are almost ready, does it not?” the undead miko replied.

            “Hai. We have done all we can to protect the shrine and ensure that the jewel is not tainted by evil before Inuyasha makes his wish.”

            “I am going to erect a barrier to protect the village from youkai attacks while we are occupied here,” Kikyou said.

            Kaede nodded. “Then there will be three barriers. Yours, the houshi’s and mine. I pray it will be enough. The jewel has brought evil to everyone who has tried to use it.”

            Kikyou nodded, then knelt down to begin creating her barrier around the town. Kagome watched her in fascination as she drew on her miko powers and wove the threads of her energy to make a shimmering shield that grew steadily to encompass the shrine, the surrounding forest and the village.

             _‘She is amazing. I could never hope to be so powerful...’_  Kagome thought, a small pang of jealousy touching her heart. She shoved it away quickly, but Miroku picked up on it.

            “There is nothing Kikyou-sama can do that you cannot. It is merely a matter of desire and training. Kikyou also embraces her holy vocation whereas you do not. That is the only difference between her abilities and yours,” the monk explained.

            “I’ve never been able to create a barrier like that,” she replied.

            Miroku raised one eyebrow. “Have you ever tried?”

            She blinked. “No, not really.”

            “Your powers were honed in combat. Kikyou-sama’s were honed in protection.  ** _That_**  is why  ** _she_**  builds barriers and  ** _you_**  concentrate on offensive tactics. I have no doubt that you could create a barrier as strong and large as Kikyou-sama’s if you had to.”

            She smiled at him, pleased by his faith in her. “Thank you, Miroku.”

            The monk shrugged. “I speak nothing but the truth.”

            “Kikyou is protecting the village. Kaede’s barrier protects the shrine. What does your barrier do?”

            “It keeps out anyone who has doubts and fear. All those who feel Inuyasha is a hanyou who will ask to become a full youkai, or those who harbor ill-will towards him, will be refused entry into the inner circle. We are trying very hard to protect the jewel from being tainted,” Miroku answered.

            She touched the jewel at her neck for the umpteenth time that morning and swallowed hard. Did she harbor any doubts inside her? She felt down into her heart and sighed.

_‘No. In my heart, I know he will do the right thing.’_

            “I’ve been keeping it pure since this morning.”

            Miroku ran a hand over the glowing bead and nodded. “It is as pure as I have ever seen it. Has Inuyasha shared his wish with you?”

            She shook her head. “No.”

            “I am sure he just wants to surprise us, ne?”

            She nodded. “He does love to keep his secrets. It makes him think he has one up on us.”

            Miroku smiled and chuckled softly. Then he pulled a small dokko from inside his robes and held it between his palms. Kagome knew he was praying and pooling his power into the holy object. Using the dokko instead of his Houriki allowed him to set the anchor for the barrier in much the same way the ‘Living Buddha’ had done onMt. Hakurei and put it into the small object. He could then set the dokko wherever he chose and it would hold the barrier in place without him having to be in physical contact with it.

            The thought made Kagome smile. Miroku wouldn’t want to be preoccupied with keeping the barrier up while Inuyasha was making his wish. The houshi was too inquisitive not to witness something which would likely be a momentous event. In truth probably half the village would have shown up for it if Kaede and the village headman had not agreed to keep the ceremony a secret from the majority of the villagers. Oh, they’d see the barrier of course, and probably come to the shrine to see what was going on, but the headman had already placed guards at the shrine entrance. No one who did not belong was going to get onto the shrine grounds before the ceremony was over.

            When all was said and done, there were three consecutive barriers, each smaller than the other and all linked to holy objects that powered them. The first was Kikyou’s village barrier. The second was the barrier Kaede put around the entire shrine sanctuary. The third was Miroku’s barrier that covered just the heart of the shrine. Anyone wishing to witness the ceremony up close would have to pass through both barriers that protected the shrine itself. Once Inuyasha arrived, they would stand in the center of the shrine together and be surrounded by Miroku, Kikyou and Kaede who would pray for the purification of the jewel until the end. It was a bit of overkill, she had to admit, but with the Shikon no Tama involved, she didn’t know if such a thing as overkill was possible. The jewel had been used for such evil, destruction and death, that she was glad to see the great lengths that were being taken to protect the purity of it.  ** _Nothing_**  was being left to chance. Nothing was getting through. Nothing was going to interfere this time.

            With the preparations made and the stage set, all that was left was to wait for Inuyasha. Sango and Shippou arrived shortly after Miroku finished his barrier, and it pleased Kagome to no end to see them pass through it without so much as a flicker from the shield.

_‘They have no doubts. For all their complaining and teasing, they trust Inuyasha completely. Do they know how strange and wonderful that is? A kitsune and a taijiya trusting and considering a hanyou as one of their own. Inuyasha should be so proud.’_

            “Ohayo,” she greeted as the two came to join her and Miroku. The houshi smiled at his wife and she smiled back.

            “Kagome-e-e!” Shippou cried happily and hopped into her arms.

            “Shippou-chan. Sango-chan,” she said, smiling at them.

            “We saw the barriers go up and knew it was almost time,” the fox kit explained.

            Kagome nodded. “We are waiting for Inuyasha now.”

            Sango was dressed in her full taijiya armor with hiraikotsu slung across her back.

            “I came prepared to defend the shrine from youkai, but it looks like my services won’t be needed,” she said.

            Kagome grinned at the slight note of disappointment in her voice. Sango was itching to get back to ‘work,’ but so far she’d had little opportunity to practice her craft. Inuyasha was usually so swift and thorough in keeping the village youkai-free, present company excluded of course, that very little ever got past him. The last time Sango had used hiraikotsu it was to bring down a carrion-crow and that was a bit like using a cannon to knock out a mosquito.

            “Don’t worry, Sango-chan. You’re still welcome here. I know Inuyasha will be happy to see all of you here to support him. He’ll be so proud to know you believe in him and trust him so much.”  
            “Well, we were there almost from the beginning. It’s right that we be here at the end,” Sango replied.

            “I was the first one to join your group!” Shippou enthused.

            She smiled and scratched his head. “I remember Shippou-chan.”

            The kit looked contrite for a moment. “I tried to steal your shards and tricked Inuyasha into getting his hand stuck under a statue.”

            “You were trying to avenge your father. Both Inuyasha and I understand why you did what you did.”

            Sango sat down next to her and hugged her knees, a wistful look on her face. “It seems like so long ago. Naraku possessing Kohaku and forcing him to kill Chichi-ue and the others, and me, then blaming it on Inuyasha and sending me out to kill him. He should have killed me then.”

            “Inuyasha wouldn’t have done that. He knew you were being tricked by Naraku.”

            Sango frowned and looked down. “Before I met Inuyasha, I never would have believed that a hanyou could be good at heart, but… but he’s taught me that many of my views about youkai were wrong.”       

            “Me too! I’m a youkai!” Shippou added.

            Sango smiled at the kitsune. “You too Shippou.”

            “Inuyasha has taught us many things about the nature of hanyous and humans,” Miroku commented sagely. “And you, Kagome-sama, have taught us many things about accepting people as they are, and about the power of love.”

            She blushed under the praise. “I didn’t do anything special.”

            “Inuyasha wouldn’t think so. I think he thinks your love for him is nothing short of a miracle,” Miroku told her. “It will destroy him if you are forced to return to your own time after the Shikon no Tama is gone.”

            Kagome winced and shivered. “Kikyou believes the well will close and I’ll be trapped here. But… but there is a chance that I’ll have to go back to my time and stay there,” she admitted.

            “You’re very special Kagome-chan. I hope… I hope you will always be with us,” Sango said.

            “Yes. We don’t want you to leave Kagome,” Shippou agreed.

            She hugged the kit. “I hope I will be here with you too. But I don’t want the well to close either. I want things to stay the way they are.”

            Miroku sighed. “I think all of us wish for that at one time or another.”

            Kagome nodded, trying very hard not to let her fears seep into the jewel. She knew it would use anything it could, and she wasn’t about to help it any.

             _‘I wonder where Inuyasha is,_ ’ she thought.  _‘He should have finished feeding Yukio by now.’_

            “Where is Kohaku?” she asked suddenly.

            “He is watching Miyoko. He hates the Jewel and he knows it. The Shikon shard in his back was what allowed Naraku to control him all that time, and he doesn’t want to be anywhere near it. He did tell me that he hopes it disappears from this world forever so it can’t hurt anyone else,” Sango replied.

            Kagome nodded that she understood. “I hope so too.”

            “Will Inuyasha be here soon, Kagome?” Shippou questioned.

            “Yes. He had to feed Yukio and get dressed. Then he was going to come to the shrine.”

            The fox kit fidgeted. “I hope so. I’m getting anxious.”

            She smiled. “I know, Shippou-chan.”

            “It looks like everything is ready,” Sango noted, looking around.

            “Yes. Kikyou has put up a barrier around the village. Kaede’s barrier protects the whole shrine, and Miroku’s keeps anyone who has any doubts about Inuyasha or harbors dark thoughts about him out of the center,” she explained.

            “It certainly seems like you have everything under control,” Sango said.

            “We hope so,” Miroku replied. “The Jewel is very sensitive and easily influenced. We are trying very hard to protect it from corruption as much as possible.”

            “I don’t think you can be too careful at this point,” Sango agreed.

            “Well, you should be proud. You and Shippou passed through Miroku’s barrier without any trouble. That means you both trust Inuyasha very much,” Kagome pointed out.

            Shippou crossed his arms and huffed, looking very much like Inuyasha in that moment, “Yeah, well, I suppose Inuyasha is alright. Even though he is a meanie most of the time.”  
            She giggled and petted the kitsune’s hair, earning her a happy smile. 

            Suddenly the shield gave a little “ZAP” noise and she swiftly turned her head to see Myouga bouncing just outside of it as Kirara in her kitten form joined them. The firecat mewed and sat next to Sango as Kagome frowned.

_‘So the flea-youkai doesn’t trust Inuyasha. Why does this not surprise me?’_

            Rising to her feet, she walked over to the edge of the barrier.

            “What? You can’t come in Myouga-jiichan?” she asked innocently, watching the little youkai shake off the aftereffects of getting zapped.

            “Kagome-sama! You are looking well today! I came to see the ceremony with Inuyasha-sama. Would you let me in?”

            She looked at the others who all looked back at her with amused expressions.

            “I can’t do that, Myouga-jiichan. The barrier is keyed to keep out anyone who doubts Inuyasha.”

            Myouga hopped up and down angrily. “How can you say such things, Kagome-sama? Long I have been Inuyasha-sama’s faithful servant!”

            She narrowed her eyes. “Oh really. So I guess we just imagined you running off every time Inuyasha got into trouble.”

            The flea-youkai stopped hopping and looked dejected.

            “It is true I run away, but that is because I am an old man and no good at fighting. I would just be a burden to Inuyasha-sama if he had to worry about my safety.”

             _‘Yeah, right… The problem is Inuyasha probably **would**  worry about Myouga’s safety. Regardless of his cowardly actions, he is still pack and Inuyasha would protect him.’_

            “Ahh, I see. How noble of you,” Miroku replied smoothly.

            “Yes, yes. So you see I  ** _do_**  trust Inuyasha-sama. Please let me in.”

            “I am sorry. My barrier is very specific. If you cannot pass it is because you have doubts in your heart. We must protect the jewel from being tainted. If it keeps you out, it is because you are a danger.”

            Myouga started hopping again. “That is not possible! I am Inuyasha-sama’s faithful servant!”

            “Is that so?” Inuyasha’s voice commented dryly.

_‘Inuyasha!’_

            She looked up to see him approaching, Yukio in his arms. He was dressed in his usual fire-rat clothing but today it looked different on him. Today it looked regal, like the fine robes of the shogun, and she realized that it wasn’t so much the clothes but how he was carrying himself. His head was up as he walked, his ears forward, and his steps were steady and self-assured as if he knew exactly his purpose in life and what he was supposed to do. He looked older, finer and more majestic than she had ever seen him- even with their son in his arms, and the mid-morning sun sparkled off his silver hair and glowed in his golden eyes. In short, he took her breath away.

            “Inuyasha-sama!” Myouga cried. “I must beg your forgiveness. The barrier will not let me in.”   

            “Really?” the adult inu-hanyou answered.

            Yukio blinked down at the flea-youkai. “Jiji!”

            “Yukio-sama! Rude as ever,” Myouga scolded, then let out an “Urk!” as Inuyasha stepped on him. “Oh, I feel so crushed…”

            “Keh. Well, at least if you’re here it means you’re not afraid for your life so that does make me feel better,” Inuyasha said, passing through the barrier to stand next to her. “Kagome,” he whispered lovingly, and her name was a benediction.

            “Inuyasha,” she replied, smiling at him.

            “Okaa-san,” Yukio said, and she nuzzled him.

            “Hello, baby. Were you good for Otou-san?”

            “Yes.”

            “That’s good. Now, Okaa-san and Otou-san are going to be very busy very soon, and you’ll have to be a good pup.”

            Yukio nodded. “Otou say I stay with Kirara and be quiet.”

            She tickled him and gave him another smile. “That’s right. And it’s very important that no matter what happens, you stay with Kirara and be a good pup. Okay?”

            For a moment, Yukio looked worried and he chewed on his fist, but nodded. “Okay.”

            The others stood and gathered around.

            “Inuyasha,” Miroku greeted with a little bow.

            “Miroku,” he answered.

            “Are you prepared for this?” the houshi asked.

            Inuyasha looked at her, his face serious and mature. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

            “Let us proceed then,” Miroku replied.

            Inuyasha nodded, then looked to Kirara who mewed and then transformed into her full firecat form. Yukio went without protest when his father gave him to the firecat and she took him to stand next to Sango and Shippou as his parents moved to the center of the shrine grounds.

            Kagome and Inuyasha faced each other and Kikyou, Kaede and Miroku came to stand around them in a triangle. Within the perimeter of the innermost barrier, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and Yukio bore witness. On the outside of the third shield but still on the shrine grounds, waited the rest of the spectators: Myouga, the village headman and three of his guards. Inuyasha gave her a reassuring smile.

            “Nervous?” he asked.

            She smiled at him. “Not now that you’re here.”

            “That’s my Kagome. She always has such faith in me. She’s what allows me to be so strong.”

            Around them, the two mikos and the houshi began to pray, surrounding them with purifying energy. Kagome took the Shikon no Tama from around her neck and offered it to Inuyasha.

            “I love you. I trust you,” she told him.

            He gave her a tender smile, his eyes soft and swimming with emotion as he lifted his hands to cup her own, placing the jewel in the cradle of their palms.

            “Thank you,” he whispered.

            She nodded and waited for him to make his wish.

            “I’ve given this a lot of thought,” he began. “I have no need to be a full youkai because you’ve taught me how to accept myself as a hanyou. I have no need to be human for the same reasons. Besides I don’t want to be a youkai or a human, I just want to be me. All I really want is to live in peace with you in the house I build and raise our pups, and I don’t need a wish on the jewel for that.

            “The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don’t want anything from this jewel. It’s done nothing but bring evil to anyone who’s ever used it, and no one has ever tried to use it for good. Even those who might have had noble intentions in the beginning, had those intentions twisted by the youkai souls in it. What I really want from this thing is for it to go away and stop bringing pain to everyone who touches it. And that’s why I chose the wish that I did.”

            He paused after his explanation and there was a moment of tense silence, then he took a deep breath, wrapped their hands around the Shikon no Tama and began to speak loudly and clearly.

            “I wish for Midoriko to win her battle with the youkai souls inside this jewel, and for her to bless my mating with Kagome so that we may be together in love for as long as we both shall live.”

            He stopped speaking and the jewel began to glow pink, then pure white, the light growing brighter and brighter until it was too bright to see and they all had to shield their eyes. At some point Kagome and Inuyasha realized that the Shikon no Tama was no longer in their hands and a brief panic ensued.

            “Inuyasha! The jewel!” she cried.

            “I know. It’s okay.”

            She grabbed for him, blinded by the bright light that engulfed them and she felt him wrap his arms around her.

            “I’m here. I’ll always be here,” his voice comforted.

            “And peace be with you both,” came a new, strange voice.

            The light faded and the group saw that a new figure had joined them. She was translucent and dressed in ancient armor.

            “Midoriko,” Miroku breathed, recognizing the spirit.

            “Midoriko?” Kagome repeated, shrinking in Inuyasha’s embrace.

            The spirit looked at the hanyou and gave him a soft smile. Kagome felt Inuyasha shiver under the mild gaze.

            “Inuyasha. It seems that you have grown in the years you have searched to complete the Shikon no Tama. No longer do you wish to become a full youkai,” the ancient miko said.

            “Bah! I’m strong enough as it is, and that jewel never brought anyone anything but misery and pain. If I’d wished to become a full youkai, I know I would have lost myself and run rampant,” he answered truthfully.

            The spirit nodded, her eyes wise and approving.

            “In all my years of fighting, in the centuries of my chosen imprisonment, always those who possessed the jewel wished upon it either purity or power. None have ever wished it love. It seems that a ‘lowly hanyou’ has finally found the true key to the jewel I created so long ago. It was never about purity or power. Those things are fleeting and cannot last. But love. Love is eternal.”

            Inuyasha did a double take. “Eh?? But I didn’t. I wished for you to win, that’s all!”

            The ancient miko gave him a sardonic smile. “Are you sure? Did you not also wish for me to bless your union with your beloved so that you might, as you said, ‘be together in love for as long as we both shall live’? Is that not a wish in and of itself?”

            The hanyou sputtered, but Kagome was catching on. “So you mean…?”

            Midoriko nodded. “The youkai souls would have their say, and theirs is to grant you both the same life.”

            “So I’ll live as long as Inuyasha?”

            “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

            “But that’s not what I meant!” Inuyasha argued.

            Kagome turned to him, hurt. “You mean you aren’t happy that I will now live as long as you will, and we can grow old together because I won’t die centuries before you do?”

            The hanyou looked trapped between a rock and a hard place. “That’s not what I meant either!”

            “Whether that was your true intention or not, that was how your wish was interpreted. Now that the jewel is gone, there is no taking it back,” Midoriko said.

            “It’s gone? Is it really?” Kagome asked hopefully.

            The ancient miko nodded. “The Shikon no Tama is no more.”

            Kagome clapped her hands happily. “Oh! Oh, I’m so glad. You can go to your rest now and find peace.”

            “That is one of the paths that lay before me.”

            Midoriko looked at Inuyasha, her eyes wise and gentle. “However, there was another wish you wanted to make, but you had to make a choice because you could only make one.”

            The hanyou swallowed hard and nodded, but stayed silent.

            “You wished you could see your first love restored to a living body so that she would not be forced to subsist on the souls of the dead.”

            Inuyasha lowered his gaze and nodded slowly. “Kikyou… Kikyou deserves better than a life like… that.”

            “Inuyasha…” both Kagome and Kikyou breathed in unison.

            Midoriko turned to the undead miko. “We are sisters, you and I,” she said. “Our souls were cut from the same cloth. Both of us were dedicated to a life of service and sacrifice, with no thoughts for our own needs and desires. Forever alone we were, kept apart from others because we were different. Both of us were betrayed by evil men who sought to possess us. There is no one who knows your heart better than I, my sister, my twin.

            “I am not ready to go to my rest. I offer you then, the whole of me within you. In doing so, the last of my power shall become yours, and both of us shall live again in one body.”

            “You suggest a merger?” Kikyou replied, blinking.

            Midoriko nodded. “To do so you would have to release the souls that do not belong to you, but I would replace them with mine and the purified remainder of the youkai souls within me.”

            Kikyou touched her chest. “I would live again?”

            “We would share the body in eternal life. Forever together and never alone.”

            “I…”

            “Kikyou…” Inuyasha whispered.

            “Yes,” the undead miko replied, answering the spirit’s question.

            The ancient miko smiled and nodded. “So be it.”

            Kikyou closed her eyes as Midoriko became a bright, glowing ball of light, which then flew into Kikyou’s chest. Kikyou’s body jerked from the impact, then countless souls burst forth from her form, streaking off in every direction. One came straight at Kagome and slammed into her, making her gasp and fall to her knees.

            “Kagome!” Inuyasha cried, kneeling beside her and taking her into his arms as she recovered from the shock.

            “My soul… my soul is whole again…” she panted, clutching her chest.

            “Are you alright?”

            “Yes.”

            They turned their attention to Kikyou, who was now floating several inches above the ground, encompassed in a brilliant glow. She remained suspended there for several moments, then she landed softly and sank to the ground, the glow fading.

            “Kikyou?” Inuyasha asked nervously after a minute of tense waiting.

            Dark eyes opened and the miko slowly sat up. She seemed confused and looked at her hands, then touched her chest over her heart.

            “Our heart beats,” she said.

            “Kikyou-sama? Midoriko-sama?” Miroku questioned, offering a hand.

            “We are here.”

            “Kikyou-onee-sama?” Kaede added.

            “Kikyou is no more. Midoriko is no more. We are one. We have merged. We are… Midorikyou.”

            “Midorikyou,” they all breathed.

            Slowly, with Miroku’s help, the miko who had once been Kikyou rose to her shaky feet. Inuyasha, still on the ground holding Kagome, looked up at her with a mixture of deep sadness and bittersweet joy.

            “Kikyou…” he whispered so softly that only Kagome heard him.

            Midorikyou looked at the hanyou and his mate.

            “We loved you. We thank you for everything you tried to do for us.” She put out her hands and they glowed white with power. “We bless your union. May you live in love and happiness for as long as you both shall live.”

            Kagome felt the power surge into her and was almost brought to tears by it. It wrapped around her and Inuyasha like a comforting blanket, then sank into them, making their skin tingle.

            “The ceremony is over. The Shikon no Tama is gone. Go in peace,” the miko announced.

            As if to emphasize her point, the barrier around the village abruptly disappeared. It was then that they realized that a crowd had gathered outside the shrine grounds, and both Kaede and Miroku dropped their barriers, letting them in. Inuyasha helped Kagome to her feet, supporting her because she was still a little wobbly.

            “Are you sure you’re alright, Kagome?” he asked.

            She smiled at him. “Yes, I’m sure.”

            “Kagome!” Shippou cried and hopped onto her shoulder.

            “Oi! Be careful!” Inuyasha warned.

            “Oh, sorry, sorry! Are you alright Kagome?”

            She nodded and smiled at the kit. “I think so, Shippou-chan.”

            “Okaa-san! Otou-san!” Yukio exclaimed as Kirara brought him over to them.

            Kagome bent down and picked up her son, holding him close as he hugged her.

            “Otou and Okaa gone! I scared!”

            “But you were good and stayed quiet, and here we are all safe and sound,” she assured him with a kiss.

            Inuyasha reached over and rubbed Yukio’s ears.

            “I’m proud of you, pup. You were a real man.”

            Yukio beamed at his father.

            “Well, that was exciting,” Sango said as she joined them.

            “I can’t believe it’s all over,” Kagome admitted. “And Kikyou merging with Midoriko. I never suspected that!”

            They looked over to where Midorikyou was standing surrounded by Miroku, Kaede, the village headman and a number of other villagers.

            “I think it was what they both wanted,” Sango commented.

            “Yeah, and now Kikyou is alive again and doesn’t need souls anymore,” Shippou added.

            “And your lifespan, Kagome, that’s wonderful. I had worried for Inuyasha. Inu-youkai mate for life and they are very loyal. I knew you would die many centuries before he did and I feared he would suffer from terrible grief,” the taijiya said.

            She took Inuyasha’s hand and squeezed happily. “I know. I was worried about that too.”

            “You were?” Inuyasha asked, surprised.

            She looked at him and smiled lovingly. “Of course. I knew your life would be much longer than mine, and I kept thinking about how you would have to live without me once I was gone. Now we can look forward to growing old together. Does that make you happy?”

            He smiled back, shyly. “Yes. That makes me happy. I… I was resigned to losing you in a few short decades, watching your hair turn silver like mine, and your face grow old while mine stayed young. I’m… I’m glad that you will be with me now until we are both old.”

            “Now you just need to finish that house of yours so she can make a proper husband out of you,” Sango teased.

            “Proper? Inuyasha will never be proper!” Shippou said, then ducked behind Kagome’s shoulder.

            “Oi!” the adult hanyou growled, threatening the kit.

            “Kagome-e-e-e!” Shippou cried as he tried to run.

            “Inuyasha, osuwari.”

            “Gah!” he gasped as he hit the stone pavement of the shrine.

            Yukio looked down at his father and giggled.

            “You may never be proper, Inuyasha, but I love you just the way you are,” Kagome cooed, soothing his ruffled pride.

            “Keh!” he snorted as he stood up. His face and mouth said he was angry, but he put his arm around her which told her all was forgiven.

            “So? What now?” Kagome asked.

            “I know the villagers have prepared a feast. Someone must have told them about the ceremony because the village was buzzing with activity this morning,” Sango replied. “I think we will all go back to Kaede’s hut to eat. I should also go get Kohaku and my daughter.”

            “Kagome, do you… do you want to check the well?” Inuyasha offered tentatively.

            She shuddered. The well. So far, it didn’t look like she was going to get dragged back to the Modern Era and forced to stay there, but she was half afraid to go near the well just in case she had to be in close proximity for it to grab her. If she was going to be tossed back to modern Tokyo , or trapped in the past, she wanted it to be after she had more time with her family and friends.

            “No,” she replied, shaking her head. “We can do it later. For now, I just want to be with you and our life in this time and be happy.”

            He smiled and kissed her. “I love you, Kagome.”

            “I love you too, Inuyasha. So very much. And I look forward to telling you that every day for the next what… six hundred or so years?”

            He gave her a silly grin and a little shrug. “Nine hundred at least, maybe more. I dunno how long hanyous live. I never knew one that made it out of adolescence.”

            “Well, I look forward to finding out together.”

            “Me too.”

            At that moment, Inuyasha’s stomach growled and they all chuckled.

            “C’mon. Let’s go get that bottomless pit of yours fed,” she teased, taking him by the arm and gently leading the way.

            “Ramen?” he asked.

            “I’ll see what I can do,” she replied, hooking her arm through his as they walked side-by-side off of the shrine grounds.

 


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four aka An Interlude of 500 Years

 

            There was a catch. With the Shikon no Tama, there was always a catch. In Inuyasha and Kagome’s case, there were three. The first they found out that evening when it was discovered that the well had indeed closed, and not even Inuyasha could pass through any longer. This came as a bit of a blow, but Kagome wasn’t completely surprised, and she’d already said her good-byes to her family in anticipation of not being able to return. She comforted herself in knowing that the reason there was no message in the well was because she and Inuyasha were  ** _still alive_**  in Modern Japan, and they would probably be visiting her mother at the shrine some 450 years in the future. For her it would be almost five centuries. For her mom, it would probably only be a few weeks.

            Inuyasha finished the house and the two of them were married in a simple ceremony officiated by Kaede and Miroku. The ritual was a primitive version of what would become the traditional Shinto wedding, but not the actual ceremony Kagome had come to recognize as the norm in Japan . That ceremony would not be performed until the early 1900’s when it was standardized by the Shinto priests as the official wedding ritual. Still, she was dressed in a white Shiro-maku and headdress that had been made with loving care by the village women, and even Inuyasha had been coerced out of his fire-rat and into formal wedding attire made from midnight blue fabric with gold trim that was a gift from the daimyo and the village headman. During the ceremony they exchanged vows and cups, but no rings. The giving of rings was a modern custom and did not exist in the Sengoku Jidai. Inuyasha pledged his unfailing fidelity and love, and Kagome couldn’t help but cry as she added her name to the marriage promises.

            The ceremony was attended only by their core group and Yukio of course, who was given the honor of holding his mother’s wedding fan during the ceremony. He was a dutiful little angel dressed in a brand new set of fire-rat clothing that matched his father’s normal clothes almost exactly. The resemblance to Inuyasha was uncanny and no one could tell that the boy wasn’t Inuyasha’s biological son. Afterward, they attended a wedding feast held in their honor and Kagome made the last of the ramen noodles she had from their final shopping trip back in the Modern Era. Inuyasha fretted that he would have to wait almost five centuries before he could have the treat again.

            That night was the first night they spent together in the brand new house. Inuyasha had refused to cross the threshold with her until they were lawfully husband and wife, maintaining some small semblance of propriety if only for the benefit of the villagers. Kagome had seen the house while it was being built, and had often toured it with Sango or Miroku, but never had she and Inuyasha been inside it together. True to his word, it was a veritable palace by the village’s standards. It had three decent-sized bedrooms with their own sliding shoji, two common rooms, and a bathing room with a huge tub and an adjacent boiler. It even had a quasi-toilet that could be flushed and refilled with a bucket that was kept right next to it. The waste was sluiced down a wooden tube that emptied into the house latrine located a short distance away. The house was the marvel of the village and even the daimyo himself wanted some of its design for his own palace in Edo, thus Inuyasha’s skills as an architect became highly prized and desired. In exchange for his building talents, Inuyasha brokered a gift of land that would eventually become the grounds of the Higurashi shrine.

            After the wedding feast was over and the newlyweds were escorted to their new home with smiles and well-wishes, Inuyasha and Kagome settled Yukio into his brand new bedroom, on his own brand new futon, with brand new blankets, pillows and yukata. Then they closed the shoji on the forlorn little figure sitting all alone on the huge new bed, eyes blinking sadly as they abandoned him, and Inuyasha carried her to their own bedroom at the other end of the house to celebrate their wedding night.

            Hours later, after they had finished consummating their marriage and they had settled down for some much needed rest, they heard the tell-tale shick of a shoji and the patter, patter, patter of little feet hurrying towards them, then the shick of a second shoji and the patter, patter, patter of little feet until Yukio plopped down on the futon with them and began burrowing under the blankets.

            “Oi!” Inuyasha had complained. “What do you think you’re doing, pup?”

            Yukio had looked confused and rather put out. “What? You got quiet. I’m allowed now.”

            Kagome had gasped then groaned as she flushed beet red and buried her head under the covers. Never before had it been so clear that their son not only knew what they were up to, but had actually been waiting for them to finish so he could join them. Inuyasha had just fumed, then sighed and gave his son a pat on the head. Yukio spent the rest of the night with them.

            The second catch they would learn about a few months after the wedding when Inuyasha was gravely wounded during a surprise attack on the village. What they had thought to be only one youkai had turned out to be two, and the second managed to get behind Inuyasha and take a chunk out of him. Kagome, who had been fighting her own battle with the first youkai along with Sango and Miroku, suddenly collapsed and could not be revived. It was then that they discovered that the youkai souls in the Shikon no Tama had been serious when they fulfilled the wish ‘ ** _for as long as they both shall live_**.’

            Inuyasha, close to death, was placed next to his mate who also clung to life by a thread, and it soon became clear that Inuyasha and Kagome’s lives were intrinsically linked and one would not live without the other. As soon as Inuyasha began to claw his way back from the brink, Kagome improved as well, and soon it was as if she had never been near death at all. The incident shook both of them to their very cores, and Inuyasha spent the better part of a day cursing and ranting about how this was why he wanted nothing to do with the Jewel or its twisted wishes.

            In the end, however, it meant two things. One: They had stopped aging and would forever be the physical age they were when the wish was made. And two: If one died, they both died, and Inuyasha had to learn the hard lesson that to protect Kagome he also had to protect himself. This severely curtailed much of his recklessness which, in the minds of everyone but Inuyasha himself, was a welcome change.

            The third catch they wouldn't discover until almost two years later and it wasn't so much a catch as it was a cruel twist of fate. It had nothing to do with the Shikon no Tama or its warped wishes, and everything to do with hanyou physiology.

            When Yukio turned two, they decided that it was time to give him a baby brother or sister to play with, and Inuyasha made a great show of burning their remaining condoms, vowing to never wear the hated sheaths again. But after almost a year of trying to conceive a pup with no success, it became apparent that hanyous, like so many mixed-blood cross-breeds, were sterile.

            Inuyasha actually took the news harder than Kagome, and he mourned silently for weeks. One of his dearest desires was to raise a family with Kagome and the reality that he might never sire his own pup weighed heavily on him. He had known from his own travels that no one had ever seen or heard of a hanyou having a child, but he had always thought that was because hanyous weren't supposed to find mates and have families in the first place. He had never realized that the real reason there were no hanyou-sired children was because they couldn't have them.

            His infertility did not mean, however, that their home lacked children. The opposite was actually true because word spread of the hanyou Inuyasha and his village, and their house became the place to bring unwanted hanyou pups. The raising of these abandoned lostlings would become their primary task over the next 450 years.

            The first came still in the womb. A gruff man arrived with his daughter who had been raped by a bat-youkai much like the ones who had terrorized Shiori and her mother. Discrete inquiries had confirmed that the child was indeed a product of rape and not the indignant assumptions of a prejudiced father, and the young woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy three months later. Kagome and Kaede were present at the birth and acted as the woman's midwives. At the mother's request, they took the newborn away immediately and removed him from the hut. Four days after her child's birth, she and her father left the village. The girl hadn't even asked to see her son. Later they would learn that she had killed herself by jumping off a cliff on the way home.

            Inuyasha named the boy Tomo and they took him as their own son. Kagome induced lactation by letting him nurse and her milk came in within a week just as it had done for Yukio. Yukio, then almost three, was overjoyed to have a baby brother to look after and fussed over the infant almost as much as his mother did. The boy had silver-white hair that looked like his big brother's until it was seen in sunlight, then it became apparent that the hair wasn't silver or white, but pearlescent and reflected subtle hues of blue, lavender, pink and peach depending on the lighting conditions. He was very fine boned and delicate looking like Shiori had been, and he had the same dark skin and white irises. His personality was mild, although he had a temper when sufficiently pushed, and he was lithe, quick and loved the wind. Inuyasha took a special trip to see Shiori and her mother in order to learn more about the unique powers and qualities of a bat-hanyou so they would know what to expect when Tomo got older.

            The next hanyou came when Yukio was five. This one was the offspring of a human man and a water-sprite, and he came by way of the river flowing next to the village. He washed up on shore one morning, a babe of four to five months wrapped in a blanket and placed in a floating basket. There was a note from his mother explaining that he could not live in his mother's watery world and life on land was too dangerous for him where he was. She had named her son Jounou, but Inuyasha changed it to [Kawaro](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/kawarou.htm) which meant 'river son’ and they accepted him as their third child. The boy loved water and his adoptive parents were hard pressed to keep him out of it. They discovered that, while he could not actually breathe underwater, he could hold his breath for much longer than a normal human and he could see, hear and navigate in water much better than a human. His most striking features aside from his pale blue hair were his webbed fingers and toes.

            When Yukio was six he got his first little sister. Unlike his other two siblings, however, this one was not a hanyou, but a full blooded neko-youkai kitten. The kitten's parents had been killed in a dispute over territory, and the humans who killed them apparently had no stomach for murdering helpless infants so they brought the baby girl to Kagome. The kitten looked very much like the red-headed neko-youkai who had been with the group of neko-youkai who had attacked Sesshoumaru. She had the same flaming red hair that was redder than Shippou’s and bright green eyes.

            Kagome named the kitten Eri in honor of her junior high school friend and proudly presented her to her brothers. When Yukio sniffed her she hissed and took a swipe at him with her clawed hands. He growled at her and jumped back in the nick of time. It was love at first sight. Over the years the inu-hanyou and the neko-youkai would take great delight in tormenting each other as they grew older, and often the villagers would see the spry redhead running, giggling manically, as she was being chased by a very angry inu-hanyou pup.

            For all their bravado however, the two were siblings and fiercely protected each other. Years later when some neko-youkai who had heard about the kitten came to take her to live with her own kind, Yukio had been the one to raise the alarm. The neko-youkai had thought they were doing Eri a favor by offering to take her with them, but she had caterwauled so loudly and had been defended so viciously by her adopted family, that they left her with those who obviously loved her very much and whom she also loved a great deal.

            More unwanted, abandoned and orphaned hanyous would come to them over the decades that they were married, and all in all they raised thirty-three children over the course of three centuries, thirty-two of which were hanyous. The children came from all corners of Japan and were all manner of cross-breeds. There was a bird-hanyou, Mariko, with feathers instead of hair and a beak in the place where her nose and mouth should be, and a monkey-hanyou, Ranma, who was covered in hair and could leap from tree to tree as easily as breathing. There were two more inu-hanyous, a boy named Miroku in honor of their dear departed friend and a girl named Izayoi after Inuyasha’s mother, and a delicate but strong and fierce neko-hanyou was named Sango in memory of the taijiya who was Kagome’s best friend and sister in the Sengoku Jidai.

            Most of the children were brought as babies or toddlers, but one wolf-hanyou, Ryoukan, came as a six year-old. The boy had witnessed the slaughter of his entire pack at the hands of humans and he never felt comfortable living among or even close to them. When Ryoukan was twelve and it was obvious that he was very unhappy in spite of the fact that he loved his adoptive mother, even though she was human, Inuyasha sent word to his once rival, Kouga of the Northern Cave . The wolf-youkai lord had mellowed quite a bit with fatherhood and maturity, and had reconciled with Inuyasha and Kagome over the years. He agreed to take the wolf-hanyou boy and raise him with the northern pack. It was the greatest sacrifice his adoptive parents could make for their son’s happiness.

            In addition to the children, older hanyous who had heard of Inuyasha’s village came seeking a place to belong. Inuyasha allowed them to stay as long as they agreed to protect the village and live in peace, and soon there was a thriving community of hanyous adding color, talent and enrichment to the little village that wasn’t quite so little anymore.

            The villagers, under Kaede, the village headman, and the revered miko Midorikyou’s direction, accepted the newcomers as long as they lived peacefully, and the village benefited greatly from their presence. Soon it became the norm to have a hanyou as a neighbor and the two groups became a diverse whole. There were friendships, cooperatives and marriages that came from the melding of the two worlds, but of course there were no children, providing more evidence to the belief that hanyous were incapable of reproducing.

            Through it all Yukio grew in mind and body. He stood taller than his father and was of a lighter build, but he possessed the same strength and easy grace. He had both of his parents’ intelligence and quick-thinking, none of his father’s gruffness, and all of his mother’s all-encompassing ability to love. Inuyasha taught him how to track and hunt, fight, strategize and negotiate while his mother taught him tolerance, patience and the importance of listening. And while his life was not completely without prejudice and hate, he always had the safe haven and love of his family to ease his wounded heart. Of all of the children, he was the one who stuck closest to home, and always visited often even when he no longer lived in his parents’ house.

            He loved and accepted each of his siblings, and was Aniki to all of them, even Eri who would rather pull his ears than pay any attention to him. Firstborn and the undisputed beta of the pack, all the children looked to him if their parents were not available, or if they needed an intersession on their behalf, especially with their father. Yukio, of all of them, had Inuyasha’s ear, and if anyone could bring the elder inu-hanyou to reason and agreement, it was him. His siblings would rally to his cry and follow him anywhere because he always protected them as fiercely as their father.

            When he was eleven, Inuyasha gave him his first sword. It was a lightweight katana made by a hanyou sword-smith in the village and imbued with protective youki. His father taught him how to use it, instilling in him a respect for the blade and the damage it could do. At this time he had four siblings (Tomo, [Kawaro](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/kawarou.htm), Eri and his mother’s newest baby, a moth-youkai girl his parents had named Yuka) and he practiced his moves with eight year-old Tomo under Inuyasha’s watchful eye.

            When he turned sixteen, his father disappeared and his uncle Sesshoumaru came to act as the village protector in Inuyasha’s absence. The reserved taiyoukai would not set foot in the village so Yukio went out to the forest where the inu-youkai lord stayed, but Sesshoumaru refused to tell him where his father had gone. Finally after ten days, Inuyasha returned and the reason for his unexplained absence became apparent. In his hands he held a sword forged by the great youkai sword-smith Toutousai with a sheath made from a branch from Bokusenou. It was Tessaiga’s equal and was made from Inuyasha’s own fang. It was named very simply Kenshuga- Dog Protecting Fang and had powers and attacks similar to Tessaiga forged into it.

            Yukio’s hands shook when he accepted the gift and he held the sword close to his chest. Of all the things his father could ever give him, Kenshuga was the greatest and most telling. He gave his old katana to Tomo although the slight boy would probably make a much better archer than a swordsman, and kept Kenshuga by his side day and night. For weeks no one, not even Eri, could wipe the proud grin from his face.

            The years passed and the children grew. The humans around them grew and aged as well, as was to be expected. Kaede died a scant six years after Inuyasha and Kagome were married, but thankfully the old miko had passed on the vast majority of her knowledge to Kagome and she was able to step in as the village doctor. Miroku took over the shrine duties, and Midorikyou came down from Zenko-ji to train two new mikos to assist him. The once undead miko who was now the merger of two powerful holy women was revered by youkai, hanyous, and humans alike and she ministered to all of them equally. What some had once feared would be the creation of a monster had become a beloved icon for peace, purity and love. Once the new mikos were ready, she returned to her home in Zenko-ji and they wouldn’t see her again for a number of years.

            Miroku and Sango had five healthy children: two daughters and three sons, all of whom inherited their parents’ good looks and intelligence. Miyoko and Sakura became mikos of the shrine when they came of age, while the boys [Hiroshi](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/hidehiro.htm) and [Jiro](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/kintaro.htm) became demon exterminators like their mother and Yasuo, the youngest son, followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the monastery. Years later, Inuyasha would gift them the land he was given by the daimyo to preserve it as a shrine after the unification of Japan when he moved his family to the Western Lands during Oda Nobunaga’s attempts to bring Japan under one sword.

            The ambitious, ruthless general from Owari attacked the holy Buddhist monks of Mt. Hiei in 1571, destroying their monastery and killing thousands. Yasuo was not of that order, but he was affiliated with them, and Miroku feared for his son’s life. Inuyasha took the boy and three Mt. Hiei monks who had managed to escape Nobunaga’s clutches to Sesshoumaru where the Lord of the Western Lands was still respected and feared. History would say that Nobunaga had been successful in completely destroying the Mt. Hiei monks, but that was not entirely true. The three Inuyasha took to safety would go underground and continue to fulfill their duties quietly, waiting for a time when their order would rise again. The hanyou would not move his family back to Musashi until after Nobunaga’s successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s death in 1598.

            Thanks to Kagome’s schooling, they knew the history of Japan and had foreknowledge of who would be victorious and the outcome of major events. This allowed them to forge alliances and avoid disaster as the Sengoku Jidai came to an end. Numerous times Inuyasha would seek refuge in the stronghold of his father’s house where Sesshoumaru, recognizing the advantages of fostering someone who knew the future, would benefit from Kagome’s knowledge even as he provided his brother and his growing brood with sanctuary. Their secret allowed Inuyasha and those closely associated with him, to quietly rise in the ranks of power and influence. Later Kagome’s knowledge of businesses and brands popular in modern Japan would guide them towards shrewd investing and the accumulation of significant wealth.

            As for the other members of their extended family, life proceeded for them in much the same way it had. Sango and Miroku, being human, were limited to the span of their mortal lifetimes, and while Kagome missed her friends dearly, Inuyasha knew she was secretly glad to be among youkai and hanyous who did not age as quickly. Being practically immortal as she was, she had to reconcile herself with the reality that humans withered and died, but sometimes it was difficult for her when she knew the person. Thankfully she was spared watching the houshi and taijiya age for the majority of their older lives because she and Inuyasha were in the Western Lands. By the time they were called back to Musashi in 1599, Miroku and Sango were already in their seventies.

            Sango’s brother, Kohaku never fully recovered from his ordeal with Naraku, although he did marry and father two beautiful children. Masumi did much to heal the young man’s tortured soul and he loved his sons very much, but his life was fated to end in tragedy. When a youkai-led gang of bandits attacked the village, the leader must have known Kohaku’s history and sought to use it to his own advantage. Believing the young man to be easily controlled, he tried to seize hold of Kohaku’s mind, but rather than be enslaved against his will and forced to hurt those he loved, Kohaku turned his chain scythe on himself and slit his own throat.

            Sango, in a murderous, grieving rage, was the one to bring the youkai down at Inuyasha’s insistence, and Masumi and her sons became part of Miroku’s family until the monk’s death of old age in 1604. Sango followed him two years later in 1606. At that time, Inuyasha stepped forward and vowed to look after all of the descendants of the houshi, Sango, and Kohaku. In the mid-1800’s Miroku and Sango’s great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter married Higurashi Kaemon and they became the first caretakers of the Higurashi shrine in the newly renamed city of Tokyo that had expanded over the years to assimilate the once little village. It shook Kagome to no end to know that her family was the direct descendants of the monk and taijiya she had known and loved.

            Shippou grew up and stayed with Inuyasha until he found his own mate when he was close to a century old. He mated with a lovely kitsune vixen who had no prejudice against hanyous, and the two built a den near the village and raised a family there. Their kits played with all of Inuyasha’s adopted children, as well as all the human children in the village. He and his brood did much to foster goodwill and relations between kitsunes, humans and hanyous.

            In the mid-1700’s the attitude towards hanyous, at least in the youkai communities, began to change. It became apparent that the time of the youkai was waning and being replaced by the Age of Man, and if youkai wanted to survive, they would have to learn how to get along and assimilate into human culture. Hanyous served as a bridge between the two worlds, and the children who were once considered abominations were now prized. As a result, Kagome and Inuyasha received their last hanyou orphan, the rarest of all the hanyous- a dragon-hanyou- in 1785.

            [Tetsukazu](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/tetsukazu.htm) was his name, and he came with it. He was a toddler of two, out of diapers and already showing great power. His dragon father was dead, as was his human mother, and his human relatives were terrified of him. They were afraid to kill him, and afraid to seek another dragon to raise him so they brought him to Inuyasha and Kagome and left him on their doorstep.

            The boy was frightening in his intensity. He looked alarmingly human except when you looked closer and saw that instead of skin he had miniscule little scales along his neck, chest and abdomen. His nails were black claws and his hair was a jet black that cascaded over his head and ran down in a ridge to the middle of his shoulder blades. His face was human, but his eyes were a striking violet and his thin lips hid a set of deadly reptilian fangs. His physical appearance, however, was not what struck fear into the hearts of men. No, it was that he was born with the Sight of dragons and the power of their ancient blood. From the time he could speak he was looking into the hearts of mortals and telling them their Fate. He could also conjure a fireball at will and control thunderstorms and lightning. He was by far the most powerful of all the hanyous Inuyasha and Kagome had raised, and yet the one who needed their unconditional love and acceptance the most.

            To say that Inuyasha and Kagome were model parents was not entirely accurate. Like all parents, they made mistakes and regretted them, but they did their best to do right by all of their children, a task that was no small feat considering the staggering diversity of the hanyous they had raised. What could be said about them was that they were completely and totally devoted to each other and to their family, and it was this unwavering love and support that set them apart. Both of them were adored by all of their children, even Ryoukan, and every single one of them could be counted upon if the call went out to rally the family.

            No one doubted that Kagome would be an excellent mother because she took to child-rearing so naturally. It was this ingrained predisposition towards children and medicine that led her to become one of the most respected youkai and hanyou pediatric doctors in the world. Her knowledge and experience from raising so many hanyous of so many different lineages gave her a significant advantage in treating hanyou patients, and her skills were in high demand in the secret, underground world the youkai had created within human society.

            The biggest surprise to anyone who didn’t really know him was Inuyasha. Inuyasha, while firm and strict at times, loved each and every one of his adopted children as if they were his own flesh and blood, and he protected them as viciously as any alpha male defending his pack. He was a wealth of support and comfort to all of his “pups” although overt physical affection was usually limited to his wife. Gruff and easily irritated, the children grew up knowing their father was a hard task-master but fair, just and honorable. They knew he would never lie to any of them, and would always tell them plainly exactly what he thought they should do. His punishments were handed out swiftly, but were never excessive and he never once beat any of them. Still, the children held a healthy respect for his temper, and their mother’s ability to soothe it.

            Like any good leader, he made sure that all the members of his “pack” were fed, housed and cared for. His generosity was legendary, and he had been known to give away his last bit of food or drink of water to anyone who needed it. He gave aid whenever it was asked for, provided the cause was just, and defended those weaker than himself against youkai and ambitious humans with evil in their hearts. He stood behind each of his children, a respected patriarch who would step in only when asked, and woe betide anyone who hurt any one of them. For a hanyou who was incapable of siring children, he had fostered more lostlings and was called ‘father’ by more individuals than any other hanyou in the history of Japan .

            To each son he gave a sword made from his own fang and customized by Toutousai to fit the unique needs of each boy. The only lack in the swords was their names. Inuyasha, never very creative, simply named them Kenshuga and then the number of the sword, so Tomo received Ni-kenshuga, [Kawaro](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/kawarou.htm) got San-kenshuga, Seto was given Shi-kenshuga, and so on all the way up to Kenshuga the fourteenth, which was gifted to [Tetsukazu](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/tetsukazu.htm) when he turned thirteen.

            The dragon-hanyou received his sword three years earlier than any of his other siblings because no one needed a sealing blade more than he did. When he reached puberty, which was a very dangerous time for hanyous because the stirring of the sex hormones could awaken dormant powers that could kill or cause madness (another reason why many hanyous died young), his Sight soared and he could not shut out the visions and voices. Inuyasha, realizing that his son would be driven insane by the Gift, raced to Toutousai and had him forge a sword specifically designed to silence the voices and temper the Sight. Now with Jyu-shi-kenshuga at his side, Tetsukazu could turn the Sight on and off at will. The sword didn’t do much else, but the dragon-hanyou was so powerful in his own right that he didn’t need anything other than the relief the sword provided.

            To each of his thirteen daughters he gave a necklace of protection made from prayer beads and one of his fangs strung on a braid of his hair. Midorikyou blessed each necklace and imbued it with miko power to shield and guard his girls from harm. He had the immortal miko do the blessings because she was still the most powerful in the protective magics while Kagome was fast becoming the most powerful in defensive ones. Her arrows were known to waste an entire legion of youkai in a single strike, and had a destructive power almost equal to that of Tessaiga. The necklaces could create a barrier around the wearer that would protect her from attack, and because they were linked to him through his fang, if the barrier was activated their father would know and come running. More than once an over-amorous suitor would suddenly find himself staring down the blade of Tessaiga as the protective hanyou seemingly appeared out of nowhere to defend his daughters’ honor. Gruff and irritable he might be, but no one laid a finger on his girls; not unless they wanted it cut off.

            It was his complete dedication to his wife and family which earned the inu-hanyou the respect and affection of all of his surviving children. None of his fourteen sons ever challenged him for leadership of the pack, and all deferred to his word when he laid it down as law- which wasn’t often. At some point in their lives, he had shed his blood for each of his pups, and none of them took that lightly. Of the thirty-three children he and Kagome had raised twenty-seven remained alive, twenty-six of which were hanyous who made it out of puberty. Their success rate was unprecedented and was a direct result of their exceptional commitment to the children’s safety and well-being.

            Still, the six that had died weighed on their hearts, and they thought of them often, especially in the misty memory of night or a gray-sky morning.

            Two that had been lost died of natural causes.

            Takako and Hansu were both cross-breeds of youkai whose life spans were much closer to that of a human’s. They’d lived long, happy lives and died peacefully of old age with their parents present. Hansu’s sword, Go-Kenshuga, was returned to his father and he kept it in a place of honor at their Canadian house.

            Two had been murdered.

            The first was a rare kitsune-hanyou, near and dear to them because he reminded them so much of sweet Shippou. He died protecting his adopted mother from a youkai mob that attacked the village. Kagome had been nursing the latest of the littles they would raise from infancy and was extremely vulnerable as she tried to protect the baby. He was only fifteen, but he showed more bravery in the face of terrible danger than most grown men twice his age.

            Akihiro had used his kitsune magics to take on the likeness of his mother and drew the youkai attacks upon himself. Inuyasha and Yukio, who was full grown and near maturity by then, were unable to get to him in time and he sustained mortal wounds. He died in his father’s arms. Inuyasha shed no tears for him, but the mourning howls of the inu-youkai joined the wails of grief that rose above the village that night.

            The second had been killed by a human mob, and it took all Inuyasha had not to visit retribution upon them. In the end, he didn’t have to because humans from his own village exacted their revenge on the ones who killed his eighth son, and brought Inuyasha back the hand and severed head of the man who slew Hiei. Hiei’s sword, Hachi-Kenshuga was refitted and given to Inuyasha’s twelfth son, a bull-hanyou named Isato.

            Two had been killed by Inuyasha’s own hand.

            The first was a fire-youkai hanyou who had always been a trouble-maker, but when Hiro entered puberty he lost control of his youkai blood and went berserk. Inuyasha tried to reason with him, but not even the pleading of his mother or his aniki reached him in his wild youkai haze, and he set everything in his path ablaze with his rogue powers. Inuyasha had no choice but to cut him down before he destroyed the village and all the people in it. He hadn’t wanted to do it, and he did everything he could to bring the boy back to his senses, but when Hiro turned his deadly fire on Kagome and the children, he did not hesitate and took him out with one blow from Tessaiga.

            He’d done the right thing, even though the decision was heart-wrenching. If he hadn’t, he would have lost everything and many more would have been killed. Knowing that hadn’t made it any easier though, and he shook afterward, his face blank and eyes staring at what was left of the boy. Kagome had to come and take his arm to gently lead him away from the broken body that was burning itself to ashes in its own cremation pyre. By the time the fire finally went out, there was nothing left to bury.

            Inuyasha’s only comfort was in knowing the boy died quickly and didn’t feel any pain. He sequestered himself away in the den with Kagome for almost two days after the dust had settled and the mess cleaned up to grieve in private and find solace in her arms. No accusations or recriminations ever left her lips for his choice, and that was exactly what his already broken heart needed. Hiro had been a challenge, but the boy hadn’t been evil, just irresponsible and mischievous. His demise was a tragedy, but Inuyasha knew that if anyone had had to kill him, it was best that he die at the hand of the father who had loved him and would not let him suffer.

            Thankfully no one else died that day, but he wasn’t able to save the house he had built Kagome and it burned to the ground, thus explaining why it did not exist in the modern age. It was the first time any of the children had ever seen their father in a full-blooded battle rage, and none of them ever wanted to see it again. For Inuyasha, however, he had gotten a frightening glimpse of what could have happened to him if his father had not sealed his youkai blood with Tessaiga.

            The second was the hardest loss of all. Sai had been a reptilian hanyou, although exactly which species of reptile-youkai had spawned him was unknown. It was known that his mother was the youkai parent and that he had been birthed from an egg. He was an odd hybrid of incongruous reptile and human traits, and his parents often marveled that he had even survived conception and birth.

            He was a sickly child, weak of limb and constitution. His cold and warm blood had never melded well and stunted his growth. He could barely walk and his limbs were twisted at odd angles at the joints, making it impossible for him to stand fully upright. His skin was a sickly whitish-green that looked a lot like a fish’s underbelly, and what little hair he possessed was found in grey, stringy wisps on his head. His eyes were crocodilian, yellow-gold with slits for pupils and a third eyelid that was disturbing to look at when you first saw it. His webbed hands and feet had stubby fingers and toes with claws instead of nails.

            What he lacked in physical strength, he gained in intelligence and he was easily one of the smartest children they had ever raised. He had a quick wit and a dry sense of humor, and an uncanny ability to see right through people. He was a bright light who could make almost anyone smile and everyone’s lives were enriched by knowing him. Kagome likened him to the Dickens’ character Tiny Tim from ‘ _A Christmas Carol_ ’ and he would occasionally repeat the line, “God bless us everyone.” just to get a few extra laughs.

            He needed to be kept warm and almost every day his father would carry him to a place in the sun where he could bask. In winter, fires constantly blazed in his room to keep his temperature high enough to prevent him from hibernating for weeks at a time while his body wasted away. Regulating his body temperature was a continuing challenge that his parents struggled to meet, and they were so grateful that none of their other children who were living with them at the time were resentful of all the extra attention Sai required. Quite the contrary; Sai’s siblings did everything they could to help their brother, and during the years that Sai was with them, Yukio even came home to live in the new house Inuyasha had built closer to the den and took over much of his father’s daily responsibilities, thus freeing Inuyasha to look after his boy while Kagome cared for the other children.

            Sai was a blessing who taught Inuyasha patience. For all that he was gruff and harsh with his healthy children; he was unfailingly gentle with Sai, often carrying the boy on his back for hours. It was not uncommon to see them walking around town, the slight child clinging to the fire-rat clothes. Inuyasha would go slowly and keep his pace smooth to make it easier for him to hold on, and anyone who came close could hear him talking to the boy, his voice calm and even. Inuyasha never lost his temper while he was carrying Sai, and he never risked dropping him for anything. The two of them would often go off together for entire afternoons as Inuyasha sought new places to take his son to bask.

            Sai called himself the “useless son” knowing full well that Inuyasha valued strength and he had none, but no words of disappointment or admonition ever left Inuyasha’s lips and he never once gave credence to the boy’s self-recriminations. He refused to compare the boy to his healthy sons, and never let him think that he was a burden.

            He was an artistic child, and he would sit for hours, slowly drawing with the brush clasped oddly in his stubby hands. Inuyasha traded for art supplies and gave him paints and paper, and kept him supplied with everything he needed to create his pictures. To this day one of their most prized possessions was a portrait of his parents that Sai had painted.

            When Sai reached puberty something went horribly wrong inside his small body, and he broke out in huge sections of callous scales and lost all of his hair. Then his lungs changed and he developed a set of gills that were only partially functional, making it impossible for him to breathe in air or in water. He lingered for days, gasping and struggling for breath. His parents were horrified and helpless as they watched him cling to life. Kagome did everything she could for him, everything she knew how to do to try to ease his suffering, but nothing helped. In the end they were left with no choice but to do the merciful thing.

            They spoke gently to him explaining that they were going help him the only way they could and to not be afraid, although by this time the boy was incoherent and they had no way of knowing if he could understand them. Then Kagome gave him a doping medicine that he absorbed through his skin and after he’d slipped into unconsciousness, Inuyasha painlessly ended his misery. It was only the second time in her life that she had ever seen Inuyasha openly weep, and the first time any of the children had seen their father’s tears. His ashes were placed next to Akihiro and Hiei’s in the Higurashi shrine. Kagome recognized the markers for the graves from her childhood, always thinking they contained the remains of ancient relatives long dead. She’d never dreamed that she had been looking at the graves of her own sons.

            In 1728 at the age of 180, Yukio took a mate. She was a human girl from the village whom he had known since she was a little child. He shared his blood with her thus extending her life far beyond what would be the normal lifespan for a human. It was known that full-blooded youkai could do this for human mates, and Sesshoumaru had done it when he mated Rin, but no one knew it was possible for hanyous to do the same thing for their mates until Yukio tried. It was just one more thing about hanyou physiology that had gone unknown because no one had ever bothered to try. Of course their marriage was childless, but Miaka had known about his sterility before she married him and did not care. Unfortunately hanyous could not provide their mates with the near immortality that full-blooded youkai enjoyed and Miaka died in 1962 after 234 years of marriage. Yukio was devastated and moved back in with his parents to grieve.

            After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when commoners in Japan were allowed to create or assume existing surnames, Inuyasha adopted the surname of Fushikenwa, although not all of his children accepted it. Many created their own surnames; all of which would soon become associated with some of the most powerful families in Japan. By this time, Inuyasha and Kagome were quite well off and Inuyasha was able to secure the property rights for a large tract of land surrounding their current house that encompassed the forest around their old den which Inuyasha had rebuilt, and butted up against the back of the Higurashi Shrine grounds. Part of it would be seized via eminent domain for the building of a road, but the vast majority remained untouched.

            Over the course of the passing centuries, amid childrearing and surviving in the tumultuous, changing world that was Japan in the 1600, 1700, and 1800’s, there was one star that Kagome held close to her heart, and that was the knowledge that she would see her family again in the Modern Era. Many plans and possible scenarios were entertained on what would be the best way to reveal the truth of her extraordinary life, and all of the children knew that their mother looked forward to the turn of the millennium with eager anticipation.

            At the beginning of the twentieth century, plans began to solidify and the pieces in an elaborate game of time-travel chess were put into place. Kagome and Inuyasha left Japan for the New World and settled in Canada . They knew what was coming in the early 1900’s, wanted to avoid it, and it seemed that Canada was the best choice.Canada was colder than Japan , but still had the large tracts of undeveloped forest that Inuyasha loved so much. The rampant deforestation of his native land was a wound on his heart, and he hated to watch it. A number of their adult children, Tetsukazu included, went with them and they began to build the North American branch of their business empire.

            They also wanted to avoid direct contact with the Higurashi family, although individuals had been left in place to take care of the family and see to its needs. Miroku also took up residence in what was now known as the Tokyo House, and it was he who had found and returned a toddler Kagome back to her mother in 1986.

            Inuyasha’s youngest inu-hanyou son had no idea he was returning his own mother to her home. Long before Inuyasha and Kagome had decided not to tell the children the whole story of their mother’s life in order to protect her from youkai who would seek to use her knowledge of the future. As a result, the only ones who knew everything were Yukio, because he had gone through the well with his parents, and Eri. Eri had only found out because she was a horrible eavesdropper and knew something was up. The rest of the family would not be told the full story until Inuyasha and Kagome called everyone to their Canadian estate in 1997. At that time a date three years in advance was chosen for the reunion in Tokyo and the final wheels were set in motion.

            Another exciting thing that was happening in the world of youkai and hanyous in the late 1900’s was the emergence of modern medicine, and with it the study of infertility. Lack of heirs had been a growing problem for the remaining youkai races. With hanyous unable to breed and pure-blooded youkai becoming rarer and rarer, many bloodlines were facing extinction within another two generations. Even Sesshoumaru, who was mated to Rin and had three hanyou children with her, had been forced to enter into a contractual marriage with another inu-youkai family in order to beget a pure-blooded Heir to the Western Lands. Thankfully the arrangement had been amicable and was dissolved once two sons were conceived and delivered.

            With the advent of fertility treatments and advanced obstetrics, eyes once again turned to the hanyous as the hope of the youkai bloodlines, and Inuyasha was one of the first hanyous to present himself for study on why he was unable to father his own pup. As it turned out, while low sperm count  ** _was_**  a problem, Inuyasha  ** _did_**  possess sperm that should have been viable. The issue was that they had no sense of direction, or as the youkai fertility doctor put it: “The wigglies need a road map and some sex education.”

            When put in a Petri dish with a viable egg, the sperm just wandered around aimlessly, bumping into the egg every now and then but pretty much ignoring it. Kagome likened them to his sword style, “Just keep swinging it around and eventually you’ll hit something.”

            Due to the miracle of modern medicine however, it was believed that, with some fertility drugs aimed at increasing sperm count and some intense wiggly hand-holding, in vitro fertilization was highly possible. As a result, after nearly fifteen years of trying and waiting for the technology and techniques to improve, Kagome was finally pregnant with their first biological child in the first pregnancy out of five attempts that had made it to the third trimester. The couple had kept it a secret, not wanting to disappoint the family, or the many youkai and hanyous who were intensely interested in a successful hanyou-human birth, in case the pregnancy ended in another miscarriage. The only other person who knew, beside the doctor who performed the in vitro procedure, was Yukio since he still lived with his parents and they wouldn’t hide something like that from him.

            Once Kagome passed the dreaded five-month milestone and it looked like she might actually carry the infant to term, they began to get excited. The only problem was the timing. If she held to her gestation timetable, she would be seven months pregnant when the date of the reunion arrived. Inuyasha wanted to put it off until after the baby was born, but Kagome refused. She had waited 452 years to see her mother again and she didn’t want to wait any longer. Besides, she wanted Mama there when she gave birth, and Inuyasha, who had never been able to withstand her pleading tears, agreed.

            Since it was deemed too dangerous for her to fly from Canada to Japan , it was decided that they would travel overland to California then take a privately chartered yacht the rest of the way. The trip would take weeks, but it was deemed the safest way for her to travel. If all went well, Kagome would return to her native Japan two days before the reunion.

            On May 29, 2000, Kagome Higurashi stepped onto the deck of the chartered luxury yacht and began her long journey home.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

 

            The streamlined black racing bike purred between his legs like a lover as he navigated the crowded, smelly streets of Tokyo . He was early and he knew it, but he’d inherited some of his father’s impatience and he just couldn’t wait any longer. Besides, if he arrived early he could make sure all the preparations had been made and that everything was ready, and it would get him out of the house where his father- overprotective and worried sick about his pregnant mother- was going ballistic over every little thing. Half the staff had already threatened to quit because of his tirades, and he’d terrorized the crew of the chartered yacht so badly that they had actually considered tossing him overboard into the Pacific. He knew their eagerness to get rid of their troublesome passengers was the reason they had arrived in Japan four days ahead of schedule. Not that he minded. The extra days gave his easily tired and stressed mother some much needed time to rest and recouperate from the three week long trip.

            At dawn he’d put on his black leather chaps and jacket on over his more formal ‘reunion’ attire, stuffed the remainder of his clothes for the day in a small satchel, grabbed the bike and headed out. He’d have loved to go without a helmet, but Japan had a mandatory helmet law and the last thing he needed was to get pulled over by the police. He’d be able to avoid any fines of course, all the officer had to do was look at his driver’s license and see his name before the man would be apologizing, bowing and letting him go, but still, he didn’t need the aggravation.

            The trip from the summerhouse in Osaka had taken him over four hours but he’d enjoyed the freedom of riding the bike instead of being cooped up in a train. It took longer, but he relished the time alone to gather his thoughts and prepare himself for the events of the day. The moment he hit the outskirts of Tokyo , however, he hit the traffic and he was rudely reminded of  ** _why_**  his parents hated driving in Japan . He dearly missed the wide-open spaces and countryside of Canada , and cursed Japanese drivers as they failed to look ahead and pay any attention to the road around them.

            Pulling a move out of an American action movie, he popped a curb and zipped around a parked delivery truck on the pavement, narrowly avoiding the pedestrians that clogged the sidewalk. His mother would have been shocked and horrified by his recklessness, but he just smiled. His hanyou reflexes saved him every time and no one got hurt. He knew Kagome hated the bike, and the way he handled it (too much like his father did), but riding a motorcycle was the best way to get around Tokyo these days and if he was going to do it, he might as well do it in style. Besides, what his mother didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

_‘Ah, you may be all grown up now, but you’re still her baby.’_

            He did refrain from using the bike to climb the shrine stairs however, knowing such disrespect would never be tolerated, and he wasn’t that dishonorable anyway. Stepping off the bike, he secured it and set the alarm, slinging the small bag with the remainder of his clothes over his shoulder, then he paused at the sight of the familiar tall steps.

_‘Four hundred and fifty-two years... Mama-baachan, I’ve come home.’_

            He was surprised at how fast his heart was beating, and he took a moment to calm himself down. He removed his helmet and checked the concealment spell that masked his hanyou features. To an untalented human he appeared to be a normal looking Japanese man in his late twenties with long black hair and brown eyes. To anyone with Talent or youkai blood, he looked the same as he always had: silver hair, gold eyes and doggy ears. The spell was keyed to the signet ring he wore on his right hand, and he fingered the gold band, trying to ignore the naked place on the ring finger of his left. His wedding ring was gone, buried with his dead wife.

             _‘Miaka gave me the ring on our trip to Paris for our 160 th wedding anniversary. Silly little Western custom... I can’t believe it’s been almost 40 years. What’s four decades when you had over twenty three?’_ He felt the pain seize his heart again and drew himself up, blinking back tears.  _‘I will not be sad. I will not cry. Today is my mother’s day. It’s her day to be reunited with Mama-baachan and I will not dampen it by mourning. I’ve been waiting to see my grandmother again too.’_

            He had memories of his mother’s mother. Mostly it was her scent that was ingrained on his psyche, and he would occasionally stop by on his frequent business trips to Japan, unbeknownst to his parents of course, just to catch a whiff of her. When he smelled her, he always thought of comfort and candy.

            A taxi cab pulled up to the curb while he was staring at the stairs and the passenger got out, narrowly missing hitting his bike with the car door. He almost barked a warning and thinly-veiled threat as to what would happen if the bike was scratched, but he stopped himself at the last minute. Primped, coiffed and dressed head to toe in Prada, complete with a set of high-heeled thigh-high leather boots, he’d know her anywhere. Her concealment spell made her look like a classy blonde but she couldn’t hide the red hair, pointed ears and sharp claws from him.

            He waited until she’d paid the driver and had made her way over to him before addressing her.

            “You’re early, mouse-chaser,” he said with a smirk.

            “What’s it to you, boot-licker?”

            “You’re never early for anything. You sleep twenty hours a day.”

            “And I can get more work done in those other four hours than all of you bone-chewers can in a week,” she shot back.

            He grinned. “It’s good to see you too, Eri.”

            “Yeah, yeah, don’t get too mushy Yukio, or I might feel the need to get familiar with you and that would mess up my make-up.”

            He blew a kiss at her. “But you’re lovely just the way you are. Ooo, is that a grey hair?”

            “Where?!”

            He laughed and she hit him over the head with her purse, nailing one of his ears with frightening accuracy.

            “I’m too young for grey hairs, you jerk. And you should talk  ** _hanyou_**. Is that a grey hair  ** _I_**  see?”

            He waved her off with a flick of a two-fingered salute. “I still have another eight centuries in me at least, probably more.”

            The neko-youkai sniffed and cast a disdainful look at the bike.

            “That yours?”

            “Yep.”

            “Mom know?”

            “Yep.”

            “Still have your balls?”  
            “Last time I checked, but she  ** _did_**  try.”

            “I heard she took Dad’s away.”

            “He smashed it into an embankment last year drag racing with some guy from Oracle.”

            “Ooops. Does he still have  ** _his_**  balls?”

            “As far as I know.”

            “Ah. So, am I really early?”

            He nodded.

            “My day planner said noon.”

            “We pushed it back three hours, and you’d know that if you ever listened to your voicemail.”

            She shrugged. “I was busy.”

            “Uh huh. I know what that means,” he replied with a knowing grin, then nodded his head to the stairs. “I came early to make sure everything was ready.”

            He didn’t wait for her as he climbed the staircase, his heart fluttering. What would Mama-baachan do when she discovered it was him?

            “So who all is coming?” Eri asked him as she fell into step beside him.

            “Everyone as far as I know.”

            “Everyone?”

            “Uh huh. Shippou called me on my cell phone last week to make sure he had the date right.”

            “Will Uncle be here too?”

            There was only one Uncle.

            He nodded. “I think so. I’m not sure. I know Aunt Rin was planning on being here.”

            “Hmm, if she’s coming, he probably will. Hopefully he’ll leave his cell phone at home or he’ll spend the whole day on it.”

            “You know him, no rest from the building of his Empire.”

            “Have you heard from any of the others? Are they here too?”

            “The last one was Isato and he called last night. His flight from Barcelona was delayed in Rome .”

            “When are Mom and Dad coming over?”

            “Their train gets in at 2:30. They’ve hired a car to bring them from the station.”

            “Train? Aren’t they staying at Tokyo House?”

            He shook his head. “No. We’ve been at Osaka House.”

            “Osaka House? Why?”

            “Fewer steps.”

            She mentally counted the steps at each property and didn’t come up with any significant difference. “But...”

            Yukio threw up his hands in surrender. “Hey. I don’t ask questions. With Mom pregnant, Dad’s gone off the deep end. She’s lucky she can go to the bathroom without him hovering over her.”

            “Wait. Mom’s pregnant? When did this happen?”

            “Ummm, about seven months ago. Right after we got back from Disney World with Shippou and the great-grandkits.”

            “Seven months! That... that means...”

            “She’s in the third trimester. Yeah,” he replied, mentally crossing his fingers.  _‘So far, so good. She’s heavy and cranky, but in no pain other than what’s normal and no abnormal bleeding. I even felt my little brother or sister kick yesterday.’_

            “And why wasn’t I told about this?”

            “We didn’t tell anyone until she turned six months. I started making calls about 3 weeks ago.”

            “Three WEEKS!? Why didn’t you call me?”

            He shot her a glance and made the motion of holding a phone to his ear. “I’m sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer,” he parroted in a falsetto. “I’m sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer. I’m sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer because she’s too busy screwing jaguar-youkai’s in Ecuador.”

            Eri had the good sense to blush but otherwise did not comment. They reached the top of the stairs and Yukio paused, taking in the sight. It was exactly as he remembered it, but then he had to remind himself that he had been there as a toddler less than a month before. For him it had been over four centuries, and his child self would never again play among the hallowed trees and buildings.

            “So? Boy? Girl? What?” Eri asked him, bringing him out of his memories.

            He shrugged. “Dunno. The doctor who did the ultrasounds knows but Mom and Dad said they wanted it to be a surprise. I guess they decided the whole Petri-dish and in vitro thing was enough for them and they wanted some semblance of a  ** _natural_**  pregnancy.” He lowered his eyes and added more softly, “Mom’s hoping it’s a boy. She told me Dad really wants a son.”

            Eri snorted. “Well, he always was a chauvinistic pig. You should have seen the look on his face when I asked him why Hikaru got a cool sword but all I got was a lousy necklace.”

            Yukio snickered even as he cast a glance to confirm that the ‘lousy necklace’ was still around her neck.

            “You’re lucky he didn’t put you across his knee for that.”

            “He’d have to catch me first.”

            Yukio giggled.

            “So if everyone is coming that would make... what... seventy-five of us?”

            He shook his head. “I counted 106 on the guest list. I’m hoping this place won’t be too small.”

            “106!” Eri sputtered.

            “Well, there’s Mom and Dad, twenty-seven of us, eighteen mates and a couple of significant others tossed in, plus Uncle and Aunt Rin and their pups, Shippou, Mitsiyomi, the kits and grand-kits...”

            “You think Kitarou and Rumiko will bring ... ahem... dates?”

            Yukio shrugged. “If they do, they do. After thirty-three kids you would think no one would be surprised that a couple of them turned out to be gay. Mom doesn’t care and Dad’s getting over it. Everyone else should just follow their example and accept them. Frankly, I think Dad was relieved the ‘big news’ Kitarou had for him was that he loved another guy. “Dad, I’m gay” is a hell of a lot better than, “Dad, I’m going insane and I’m going to burn Tokyo down.” Right?”

            Eri blinked. “Well, when you put it that way...”

            Yukio sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know what Dad would do if he had to take down another one of us like he did Hiro. You weren’t there. You didn’t see him before... and after. Up until the point Hiro turned on Mom and the kids, you could see Dad was trying to figure out a way to bring him back. But I keep thinking, if he hadn’t… if he hadn’t brought Hiro down with that strike… We all would have been orphans twice over that day.”

            Eri frowned and nodded gravely.

            “Well, the caterers were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago,” Yukio said, changing the subject.

            “You used Shimanouchi right?”

            He nodded. The caterer was youkai owned and operated, and familiar with the unique needs and ‘tastes’ of youkai clientele. It was also one of the more reputable businesses and refused to serve anything human-derived. None of the members of his family condoned, supported or tolerated the consumption of human flesh, by-products, or related parts whatsoever. He had vivid memories of his father’s reaction the last time a caterer had tried to substitute a human-based broth in the soup to cut costs. In the seedy underbelly of the darker youkai world, human products were cheap because their ‘meat’ rarely had to be purchased.

            Thankfully, the only youkai who would practice such disgusting habits were on the ‘Youkai Most Endangered List’ and were a dying breed. His family had been involved in numerous battles between the human-eating and non-human eating youkai, on the ‘non’ side of course, and he had fought beside his father and siblings to send the scum back to hell many times.

            “Well, Shimanouchi’s good. They’ll be here. The truck probably got stuck in traffic. I passed a big accident on the way here in the cab. Turns out some yahoo on a racing bike popped a curb and was driving on the sidewalk. People scattered into the street and two cars got rear-ended when they slammed on their brakes.”

            He gulped but said nothing.  _‘Shit… I’ll probably hear about that if they got my license plate number…I hope no one was hurt.’_

            “So, what’s on the menu?” Eri asked.

            Yukio shrugged. “The usual: filet minon, salmon, sushi, roast capon and duck, half a boar, a few pounds of shellfish, fruit and salads for the rabbit-food eaters, and the mandatory oden and ramen. I told the caterer to bring a dozen cases of ramen. That  ** _might_**  be enough.”

            Eri sniffed. “More money than the Gross National Product of some small countries, the world at his fingertips; he could have anything he chooses to eat, and he wants 10¢ salty noodles.”

            Yukio licked his lips. “Food of the gods.”

            “Thankfully the gods don’t get hypertension or both you and Dad would be dead by now.”

            “Hey I  ** _did_**  talk him out of buying Cup-Men, didn’t I?”

            “That is a plus. Now if only I could convince you to change your taste in wines. The vineyards made a fantastic Pinot Grigio last year.”

            He shuddered and made a face. “Pinot Grigio… yechhh. That’s right up there with your catnip tea and Mom’s curry.”

            Eri sniffed haughtily. “There is nothing wrong with my tea or Mom’s curry. I happen to like curry. It’s not my fault that none of you bone-diggers can stomach the spice.”

            “I’ll remember you said that next time you get a bad batch of weed and someone needs to peel you off the ceiling. I’ll ask Tetsu to do it instead of me… or squirt you down with a power hose.”

            “You wouldn’t!”

            He grinned, mischief in his eyes. “Just watch me.”

            “Mom would kill you.”

            “Yeah, but Dad would help.”

            She growled and gave him a very cat-like hiss. He just snickered.

            Just then, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps running up the shrine stairs and Yukio took a deep whiff to see if the newcomer was youkai, hanyou or human. He recognized his grandmother’s scent immediately and tensed with excitement.

            “Who is it?” Eri asked, noticing his sudden snap to attention.

            “Mama-baachan,” he whispered back.

            A hand on his arm conveyed all he needed from her. Siblings, rivals, and sometimes opposites they might be, but in the end they were family and that was all that mattered.

            “Are you ready for this?” she questioned.

            He nodded, eyes trained on the stairs. “I’ve been ready for four-hundred and fifty-two years.”

 _‘Hi, Mama-baachan. I know you don’t recognize me but I’m your grandson, Yukio,’_  he practiced mentally, going over his pre-planned speech.

            He caught one glimpse of her however, as she cleared the top step and all of his carefully memorized greetings and explanations blew out the window.

           

********

 

            Higurashi Mama ran breathlessly. She had so much to do and not enough hands to do it with. She was rarely this frantic, but with her only daughter’s wedding a scant six months away, she found herself rushing to lay plans and handle all the details while Kagome was in the Sengoku Jidai. To add to her stress, the shrine had been reserved four months prior for a family reunion of none other than the Fushikenwa family itself. Looking at the guest list that had come with the caterer, her knees went weak when she saw it was a veritable who’s who of Japan’s richest and most influential families. Some of the guests had been benefactors of her family and the shrine since before she was born, and she knew that she had to make sure the gathering went off without a hitch. As a result, she was personally seeing to every detail.

             _‘Damn, the caterer is late…’_  she thought, looking at her watch.  _‘I hope Jii-chan has the shrine ready.’_

            She reached the top step and almost ran directly into the tall, young man who was standing on the shrine grounds.

            “Oh! Gomen nasai!” she apologized, skidding to a halt, her grocery bags clattering into each other.

            The man seemed stunned and she took a moment to study him. He was dressed in motorcycle riding leathers, but the open jacket revealed a formal white shirt with a Mandarin collar and deep blue sapphire cabochon at the throat. His long black hair was pulled neatly back into a ponytail and a diamond stud earring glittered from one earlobe.

             _‘He must be the owner of that expensive racing bike I saw parked at the bottom of the shrine stairs.’_

            A young woman dressed in very expensive designer clothing stepped forward. She wasn’t Japanese she could tell, because she had brilliant blonde hair and green eyes. She extended her hand like a Westerner and gave her a smile.

            “Good afternoon, I’m Eri Bast,” the woman greeted, shaking her hand firmly.

 _‘Bast. She’s one of the guests.’_ Mama thought, recognizing the name and bowed dutifully _._

            “Welcome to the Higurashi Shrine, Bast-san.”

            “Thank you. I must ask you to please forgive my brother. He’s mentally deranged, you see.”

_‘Oh?”_

            “HEY!” the young man sputtered, his brown eyes flashing rage.

            The blonde gave a wicked smirk at her brother’s ire, then spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, “He was dropped one too many times as a baby.”

            “I was not!”

            Mama giggled, relieved by their humor.  _‘At least they aren’t angry about the caterers. The caterers. I must call them.’_

            She bowed deeply to the young man, ignoring his stare.

            “Please forgive me. The caterers are late and I must call to see if something has happened.”

            The woman looked off in the direction of the shrine stairs and… sniffed?

            “They’re coming,” Eri said.

            Mama blinked and looked towards the shrine gates. “Oh?”

            “I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” she added, completely unconcerned.

            Mama gave her a nervous smile. “I’m glad, but I’ll call anyway as soon as I take my groceries into the house.”

            “I can help you,” the man offered, reaching for the bags.

            “Oh no. Thank you, but I am fine. Please, enjoy the shrine. I will take in my groceries, call the caterers and return shortly,” she replied, giving him another bow.

            She hurried to the house, entering and practically kicking her shoes off in the genkan.

            “Tadaima!” she called as she entered the main dwelling. “Jii-chan, are you here? There are guests on the grounds and the caterers aren’t here yet…”

            “Hai! Hai!” came the voice from upstairs. “I am coming!”

            “Arigato!”

            Spinning she turned to go into the kitchen to put down her bags and nearly collided with the young man.

            “Oh!” she gasped.  _‘He followed me into the house. Is he truly mentally ill?’_

He just looked at her and didn’t say a word. He was very handsome, but his expression was unsettling.

            “I’m… I’m sorry,” she stammered, bowing. “I did not hear you come in, Bast-san. I will call the caterer immediately. Is there something that you need?”

            He was still staring her and it was making her very uncomfortable.

            “My father is the head priest of the shrine. He will be down shortly. I will call the caterer…”

            “My name isn’t Bast,” he said softly.

            She bowed again. “Please forgive me. I assumed…”

            “My family name is Fushikenwa.”

_‘Fushikenwa… one of the Fushikenwas himself is in my house. But I’ve never read anything about them having a son who was mentally ill…’_

            “Please forgive my mistake, Fushikenwa-san,” she apologized with yet another bow.

            “Please stop bowing like that.”

            “I’m… I’m sorry,” she replied, stopping herself from bowing again. “Is there something I can do for you, Fushikenwa-san?”

            “No,” he answered simply, then just stood there, looking at her with a curious yet sad expression on his face, and she didn’t know what to do.

            ‘ _Where is the sister?’_  “Your sister…”

            “She’s outside. The caterers are here. She’s directing them.”

            “Oh!” She scrambled to do something with her grocery bags, but he was standing between her and the kitchen. “I’ll… I’ll just put these down and…”

            He still blocked her path. “You really don’t know who I am, do you?” he said suddenly. He sounded sad.

            “Ah, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what…”

            “I’d hoped you’d recognize me a little. This appearance isn’t all that different from my true form. But it has been a long time and I’ve grown quite a bit.”

            Now she was really getting nervous.  _‘Where is Jii-chan?’_  “Forgive me, Fushikenwa-san, but I…”

            “Yukio,” he corrected.

            “Hm?”

            “My given name is Yukio.”

_‘Yukio. Like my grandson…’_

            “Mama-baachan. It’s me.”

            “I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re...”

            The young man fingered a large signet ring on his right hand, then he slowly removed it and before her very eyes his hair bled to silver, his eyes turned golden and his ears moved up to the top of his head as two furry triangles.

            “I’m Yukio.”    

            She stared, dumbfounded at the adult hanyou. “Y… Yukio?”  
            He nodded, giving her a sweet smile that showed his canines.

            ‘ _Yukio?_ ’ “Yukio?” she repeated, the cold chill of shock flooding through her.

            “Yes, Mama-baachan, it’s me.”

            She dropped the shopping bags only to remember too late that one of the bags contained eggs; eggs that smashed all over the floor.

            “Oh!” she cried and bent down to try to handle the mess with her shaking hands and addled mind.

            Yukio crouched down, placing a small black leather bag on the floor, and gently took her by the upper arms. “I will buy you a whole case of new eggs if you will give me a hug,” he said.

            She stilled, unable to stop staring at him, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Then she suddenly slumped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting him support her because her knees had gone weak.

            “Yukio!” she cried.

            “Mama-baachan,” he answered and swept her up into a powerful hug.

            Slowly her brain started working again and with the newfound brain function came a million questions. How had he grown up so fast? Who was the woman he claimed as a sister? Where did he get the ring that masked his appearance? But first and foremost in her mind was the terrible, dreaded question: ‘if he is here as an adult, where is my daughter?’

            Panic seized her and he seemed to recognize it because he hugged her tighter.

            “Kagome! Where is Kagome? What happened to Kagome!?” she asked, half-terrified to learn the answer.

            He pulled back to look her in the eye and she was never so happy to not see sadness and grief on his face.

            “It’s okay, Baa-chan. Okaa-san and Otou-san will be here later. They are both fine. That’s all I can tell you because Mom wanted to be the one to tell you the whole story.”

            “Kagome… Kagome is alive?”

            He nodded. “Both Okaa-san and Otou-san are alive and well.”

            “Then how…”

            He sighed. “After the wish was made, the well closed and not even my father could come through.”

            “But then…”

            “Mom will tell you everything when she gets here. I’ve already said too much as it is. Besides, I’m not really the one to ask. I was just a little pup when all of it happened and I don’t remember it very well.”

            She took in his adult face, trying to superimpose her memory of him as a toddler onto this dashing grown-up man. Gone were the pudgy cheeks of the baby she knew, to be replaced by fine cheekbones and a strong chin. Only his eyes and smile remained the same. She placed one hand on his cheek.

            “I can’t believe it’s really you…”

            He chuckled and she realized that his laugh had remained the same as well, just deeper and more mature.

            “I’ve waited so long to see you. I’ve missed you so much,” he admitted. “I have memories of you and this place from when I was a pup. I remember your voice and your scent and how kind you always were.”

            “And how I always had a treat for you,” she added.

            He blushed and laughed softly. “That too.”

            He pulled her to her feet, refusing to let her go until he was certain she had her footing. “You got egg on your knees. You should go change. I’ll have someone from the caterers clean up this mess,” he told her, motioning to the broken eggs and the spots on her stockings.

            “Oh. Oh no… I should clean it up. And there are other groceries that have to be put away.”

            He pouted slightly, then grinned again and his smile was infectious. “Okay.”

            Mama bent to pick up the remainder of her bags but Yukio beat her to it, scooping them up and taking them into the kitchen for her. Then as she cleaned up the mess in the hall, she heard him make a phone call on a cellular phone and speak to someone on the other end.

            “Oi, Miroku. It’s me. Hey, can you bring some eggs with you when you come over to the shrine? Mama-baachan dropped hers when she saw me and I feel honor bound to replace them.” There was a pause as he listened to the response. “Ummm, hold on. Baa-chan?”

            “Yes?”

            “How many eggs should Miroku bring?”

            “Just one package, please. But you don’t have to worry about it. I can get more myself tomorrow. It’s not a problem…”

            He ignored her.

_‘So much like his father…’_

            “Just one. Thanks, Miroku. Hmm? No I haven’t heard from Mom and Dad since I left Osaka House this morning. As of 7am, Dad was screaming at the housekeeper that the floors were too heavily waxed and Mom might slip. I had to get out of there. Yeah, I know, I know, but sometimes I wish we could just… Oh I dunno, seal him to a tree until after the baby comes. Life would be a lot less stressful for everyone involved. I suggested it, but Mom just hit me.”

            ‘ _Baby?_ ’ Mama thought, ‘grandmother radar’ picking up on her grandson’s statement.

            “Okay. See you later today. Everything is going fine. The caterers were late arriving but that’s no big deal. They’re here now and so is Eri, so you know she’ll make sure they do everything right… or at least her way.”

            Yukio laughed at something the other person said, and nodded. “Yes, yes. Alright, thanks Miroku. Bye.”

            He turned to her and smiled. “Miroku will bring eggs when he comes over.”

            She nodded, still clutching the dirty dishrag in her hands from cleaning up the eggs.

            “Baby?” she asked.

            Yukio’s face cracked into a huge grin. “That is another thing I will let my mother tell you about.”

_‘Baby? My baby is pregnant. But… she’s too young to be…’_

            “Ah-hah, I am ready,” Jii-chan announced, entering the kitchen in full Shinto priest’s robes.

            “JII-CHAN!” Yukio cried, moving so fast all Mama saw was a blur of silver and black leather as he swept past her and grabbed the old man, spinning him around.

            “Ahhhhhhggggghhhh! Demon!!” Jii-chan screamed.

            “Jii-chan. Jii-chan. Jii-chan!”

            “Mama, help me-e-e-e-e!!!”

            “Yukio, sweetheart,” she called, falling back into her old ‘grandmother’ voice. “Please put Jii-chan down.”

            He obeyed immediately, setting the old man gently on his feet.

            “Funny, you’re a lot shorter than I remember,” he teased, scratching his head.

            “Demon begone!” Jii-chan commanded, waving an ofuda.

            Yukio just laughed and kissed his great-grandfather on the cheek. “I take it back. You’re just the same as always.”

            He opened the collar of his shirt to reveal a stone on a braided rope. “I still have the charm you gave me as a pup.”

            Jii-chan recognized the necklace and gasped. “Yukio?”

            “Hai, Jii-chan. It’s me.”

            “But… you’re big!”

            “Hai, Jii-chan, pups do that. We tend to grow up.”

            Jii-chan looked at her, questions in his eyes.

            “Jii-chan, please meet Fushikenwa Yukio.”

            “Fushikenwa?” He looked back at his great-grandson. “It can’t  ** _be!_** ”

            Yukio reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up to his driver’s license, he showed it to Jii-chan. The old man looked at the picture and shook his head.

            “This isn’t  ** _you!_** ”

            Laughing, Yukio put the ring back on and reactivated the spell that darkened his eyes and hair, and pulled his ears down to the sides of his head.

            “ ** _Now_**  does it look like me?” he asked with a grin.

            Jii-chan just sputtered. “How did you do that?”

            “Concealment spell linked to my ring. Standard survival gear for youkai and hanyous in a human world,” he explained, taking the ring off again and making the ears, hair and eyes come back.

            “Ohhhh,” the old man breathed, inspecting the ring.

            Suddenly Yukio caught both of them up in a big hug. “Oh! I am so  ** _happy!_** ” he exclaimed, making little whining noises in the back of his throat.

            Letting them go, Mama saw him wipe moisture from the corners of his eyes.

             _‘Hmm, not **that**  much like his father,’_ she amended.

            Her grandson sighed and refastened his shirt collar. “I should change. My mother will kill me if I’m still wearing my riding leathers when she gets here,” he admitted.

            “Mother?” Jii-chan repeated. “Kagome?”

            Mama nodded.

            “She’s coming through the well?”

            “No, Jii-chan,” Yukio replied sadly. “The well is closed. It’s been closed for a very long time.”

            “Closed?” He looked at his daughter again.

            “Kagome will explain everything when she gets here with Inuyasha,” Mama said to his unspoken question.

            Yukio picked up the small black bag he had set down and looked to her in askance. “May I use Okaa-san’s old room to change?”

             _‘Old room?’_  she thought, even as she was nodding.

            He grinned again. “Is Souta going to be here?” he asked suddenly.

            She blinked and nodded. “He is coming home later.”

            “Great. The whole family will be together again,” he commented happily as he disappeared up the stairs.

            Jii-chan looked at her once he was gone. “Mama?” he asked.

            “I don’t know,” she replied, shaking her head. “I came home from the store and he followed me into the house. He was wearing the ring so I didn’t know it was him until he took it off. A woman who claims to be his sister is out directing the caterers. That’s all I know.”

            Mama put the dirty dishrag in the sink and set about putting the groceries away. The routine act of placing all the food in the pantry and cupboards calmed her a little even as her mind was racing.

            Yukio promised that Kagome was alive and would explain everything when she got there, but he’d also said that the well had been closed. If that was true then, unless they had found another way to travel through time to the Modern Era, her daughter must be over four centuries old.

_‘But how is that possible? What happened to my baby?’_

            Jii-chan came to stand next to her. She gave him a watery smile and straightened his clothes.

            “I’m sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for all of this,” she said, even as tears began to well in her eyes.

            “Of course,” her father agreed.

            A small sob escaped her lips and she fought to hold the rest back. So many questions needed answers. Jii-chan put an arm around her and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly.

            “I should go change. My stockings have broken eggs all over them,” she finally said.

            Jii-chan nodded and stepped away, allowing her to excuse herself to go up to her room. She passed Yukio as he was coming down. His leathers were gone, replaced by a crisp designer suit with a short jacket.

            “Going to change?” he asked her.

            She nodded and he smiled. “Put something nice on Mama-baachan. This is as much your reunion as it is ours. I’ll see you when you come back downstairs.”

            With that, he continued on his way and disappeared into the kitchen.

_‘As much my reunion as it is theirs. Oh, Kagome, you have so much explaining to do.’_

 

*******

 

            The bedroom still smelled of his mother. He was surprised how strong the scent was and he wasn’t expecting it. In this time, his parents hadn’t been in this room for over three weeks and he had expected their scents to have faded, but they really hadn’t. Even his pup scent still remained in the crib by the bed, and he was surprised by the effect it had on him.

            He tried not to think about the intricacies of time travel and paradoxes because it gave him a headache. On one hand, he hadn’t been in this room for four hundred and fifty years. On the other hand, he had been a toddler and sleeping in the crib three weeks before. Four centuries. Three weeks. Both were true. Both existed in the same timeline. It didn’t seem possible, but there it was. In 2000 he was both fourteen months and 450 years old. It was enough to give anyone a migraine just trying to wrap your head around it.

            Taking off his chaps and jacket, he took a few deep breaths.

_‘Okay, Yukio, get it together. You were whining out there and practically licking their chins.’_

            He knew he was acting like a pup but he couldn’t help it. His reactions were instinctive for an inu-youkai who was welcoming pack members back home. After so long being separated from his grandparents, it was only natural for him to show his joy in the best way he knew how.

_‘Except that they really will think you’re deranged and haven’t a clue what the Hell you’re doing. Did Okaa-san ever explain inu-youkai speech to them?’_

            He pulled the waistcoat out of the satchel and put it on, adjusting the collar and shoulders to sit perfectly. Neither he nor his father were too taken by modern materialism, and they were as apt to shop in Wal-Mart as they were in Nieman Marcus, but there was something to be said for a well made designer suit. This one was an Armani and it had been made for him two years ago in Italy . The jacket was short, ending right at his waist with a crisp cut that tapered to mould to his chest and torso. The slacks were comfortable and form-fitting but not too tight. Everything about it was expressly tailored to bring out his most flattering attributes and it performed its task flawlessly. He looked like a god in it and he knew it, and it fit fabulously whether he was concealed or not.

            The only part of the outfit that he was displeased with was the shoes, but that was because he hated footwear to begin with and only wore it when absolutely necessary. In that, he was just like his father who had to be heavily bribed into wearing even sandals. Normally if he were attending a social function outside of family, he would endure the torture of formal dress shoes. Handmade or not, he despised them and took them off as soon as possible. Because today was a family function, he chose to forego the dress shoes and opted for his leather bike boots instead. Polished to a brisk shine, they looked just as nice as the dress shoes, but didn’t pinch his toes.

            ‘ _And you’ll probably take them off before too long anyway,_ ’ he thought, rubbing away a recently made scuff mark off of one of the heels.

            Dressed, he checked himself in his mother’s mirror, brushing his fingers through his silver hair and smoothing it back. His hair wasn’t as long as his father’s, but it did fall below his shoulders. When he was concealed it was a straight, glossy black, but in his true form, it was thick and had almost twice the volume of the black hair. His ears peeked out from the mass of silver on top, twitching with excitement. Outside he could hear Eri giving orders and a quick glance out the window confirmed that his sister had everything under control.

            One last quick inspection and he declared himself ‘as good as he was going to get.’ He stuffed the riding leathers into the satchel and left the room. He ran into his grandmother on the way down the stairs. She looked a little stressed and shaky.

_‘It is a lot for her to take in. I wonder how she is going to react when she finds out that she has 27 grandchildren.’_

            “Going to change?” he asked her.

            She nodded at him and he smiled. “Put something nice on Mama-baachan. This is as much your reunion as it is ours. I’ll see you when you come back downstairs.”

            His great-grandfather was in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea, and he joined him, resisting the urge to nuzzle him and sniff his hair. Jii-chan offered him a cup of tea which he accepted just so he would have something to do with his hands.

            “It looks like Eri is taking care of the setup and decorating,” he commented, looking out the kitchen window.

            “Eri?” the old man repeated.

            “My sister. She’s the blonde in Prada giving orders.”

            Western style tables had been set up along the west end of the shrine grounds, and wait staff were scurrying around with china and silverware. He watched a newcomer carry in a tray of flowers. Eri met him and began pointing out where the arrangements should go.

            “Hmm, florist is here,” he said to no one in particular as he took a sip of his tea.

            “Your sister?”

            He nodded. “One of them. I have thirteen.”

            “Thirteen!” Jii-chan sputtered.

            Yukio chuckled. “Thirteen sisters and thirteen brothers. I did have fourteen sisters and eighteen brothers but six died.”

            “Thirteen sisters and thirteen brothers? Ohhh, Kagom-e-e-e…” the old man moaned.

            “We’re adopted, every last one of us. And I really need to shut up because my mother will have my hide if I tell you too much. Before I left, she made me promise to let her and Dad tell you everything.”

            “Adopted?”

            He nodded and the admission seemed to comfort the old man some.

            “When will Kagome be here?” Mama-baachan’s voice asked as she came into the kitchen.

            He turned to see her and smiled at her lovely floral dress and coral necklace.

_‘I’ll buy her some pearls and bring them the next time I visit.’_

            “They’re coming in on the 2:30 train from Osaka .”

            “Osaka ? They’re in Osaka ?”

            He nodded. “As you’ve probably already figured out, Mom is pregnant. Dad counted the stairs at Osaka House and Tokyo House, and Osaka had fewer so that’s where he chose to have them stay.”

            She smiled knowingly. “Still over-protective I see.”

            He rolled his eyes. “You have no idea. Mom can’t do anything without him and he goes ballistic over the littlest thing. I swear I don’t know how she puts up with it.”

            Mama-baachan just giggled and shook her head. “I don’t think he’s changed a bit.”

_‘You’ve got that right. In more ways than one.’_

            He finished his tea and put the cup in the sink. “Here. Let me introduce you to my sister Eri,” he offered, extending his hand. “I know you’ve already met, but I was a little speechless at the time. Besides, we need to get out there and stop her before she takes over.”

            He watched her smooth her dress and smiled at her self-consciousness.

            “You look fine Mama-baachan. I couldn’t ask for a prettier grandmother,” he assured her. 

            She gave him a nervous smile but took his offered hand, gasping as he pulled her into another hug. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I have four hundred and fifty years worth of missed hugs to make up for.”

            “You really are my daughter’s son,” she told him. “I remember how you were always hugging me as a toddler.”

            “Never outgrew it,” he admitted. “C’mon, Jii-chan, come meet Eri. I’m sure she’ll be overjoyed to see you. And do me a favor, got an ofuda ready? Nail her right on the forehead for me, will ya? Believe me, she deserves it.”

            He put one hand around his grandmother’s waist and another on Jii-chan’s shoulder and ushered them towards the door.

            “Ahh, Jii-chan,” he began a little nervously when he saw that the old man did indeed have an ofuda ready. “I was just joking about the ofuda. If you hit her with that, she’ll go into a snit and we’ll have to put up with it all day.”

            “Ah,” was all Jii-chan said in reply.

            “Is Eri a hanyou like you?” Mama-baachan asked.

            “No. She’s a neko-youkai actually.”

            “Neko-youkai? A cat?”

            “Mm-hmmm,” he answered, guiding them out to the shrine where everything was beginning to come together with remarkable youkai speed.

            “Oh my. That must have been interesting growing up.”

            “She had the nasty habit of waiting until I’d fallen asleep in a tree before knocking me out of it and saying that dogs didn’t belong in trees,” he admitted.

            He heard her giggle. “Your father loved to sit in trees.”

            “I know. He used to find the tallest one and...”

            “What are you  ** _doing?!_** ” came Eri’s horrified voice.

_‘Huh?’_

            He turned to see his sister hurrying towards them, hands waving, eyes flashing.

            “What?” he answered.

            “You’re  ** _unconcealed_**  you dolt!” she snapped back.

            He took a quick glance around, hoping he hadn’t missed any errant humans that might be employed by the caterer, but even if there were any they’d be well used to non-human clientele.

            “Eri, the only humans here are Jii-chan and Mama-baachan. Everyone else is either youkai or hanyou,” he pointed out.

            “That’s not the point!” she huffed. “What if a visitor comes to the shrine? What if the press shows up? Everyone will see your ears on the six o’clock news!”

            He rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay!” he gave in, putting the ring back on and activating the spell.

            She sighed with relief. “Oh good. Now I won’t have to explain to anyone why my brother’s a dog.”

            “Hey!” he groused. “Jii-chan! I lied. Get her!”

            “Demon begone!” the old man commanded, tossing an ofuda at the blonde.

            It hit her square in the forehead and... did nothing.

            “Oh look, a seal. How quaint,” she said, peeling it off of her face. She turned it over in her hand a few times then slapped it onto her brother’s head. “There. It looks better on you.”

            ‘ _Why I ought to... I **swear**  if my mother wouldn’t cry, I’d...’ _Yukio thought, growling.

            As usual Eri wasn’t paying any attention to him.

            “No! No! NO! Don’t put those there!” she cried, upset about two ice sculptures that were being brought in as centerpieces for the buffet table.

_‘Ice sculptures? Who the hell orders ice sculptures for an outdoor banquet in Tokyo in June?’_

            He was about to open his mouth to say something but Eri was already gone. He sighed.

            “Anyway, that’s Eri. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to meet her later.”

            “She’s very pretty,” Mama-baachan commented.

            He smiled. “That’s her concealment spell, but in truth she’s not bad to look at. She’s got red hair and pointed ears.”

            Mama-baachan nodded. “I really ought to help. This is my shrine after all, and I am responsible for all of the functions here.”

            “Good luck. If I might make a suggestion, she hates water. Normally I’d just squirt her but I left my Super Soaker at home.”

            His grandmother giggled and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “I think I can handle it, sweetheart.”

            ‘ _Sweetheart_.’ He couldn’t stop the grin that split his face.

            “Jii-chan, you’ll see to the offerings?” she asked the old man.

            Jii-chan bowed. “Hai, Mama.”

            “Very well, then. Let’s get this going.”

            Yukio watched as his grandmother strode over to Eri, who was practically hissing at the poor delivery boy holding the ice sculpture of a swan. He saw her put a hand on the neko-youkai’s shoulder, saw Eri start and then her eyes go wide at whatever Mama-baachan said. Then, to his amazement, his sister smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

             _‘How did she **do**  that?’_ he wondered.

            Realizing that he was only in the way, Yukio moved to sit under Goshinboku to watch the activity.

             _‘Hello, old friend,’_  he greeted, setting his back against the familiar trunk. How many times had he sat there in that exact spot while he was growing up? The rough bark between his shoulders was a welcome feeling.

            All around him, the reunion was taking shape and he could barely contain his growing happiness and excitement.

 _‘Two o’clock,’_ he thought, looking at his watch _. ‘Soon the rest of the guests will be arriving and Mom and Dad. Everything is coming together so nicely for Okaa-san. It’s going to be a wonderful day.’_  


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

           

            The guests started arriving at a quarter to three. Yukio supposed he couldn’t really call them guests because the majority of them were his family, but there were a few here and there who weren’t directly related to him. When the others started trickling in, he’d left his spot under Goshinboku and joined his grandmother while Jii-chan sat by the main shrine and played the part of head priest. There he pointed out each newcomer and told her who the individual was and what relation they were to him. He could see her eyes opening wider and wider as she tallied the number of people he claimed as ‘brother’ and ‘sister.’

            “That’s my sister Yumi,” he told her, indicating a slender young woman on the arm of a robust man. “She’s a kawauso-hanyou. The man next to her is her mate. He’s a full-blooded kawauso-youkai. Not too many of them these days. The rivers are too polluted. They moved to the Netherlands about sixty years ago, before the A-bomb dropped.”

            “Yumi,” Mama-baachan repeated.

            “And over there is Kioshi. He’s Mom and Dad’s seventh son. His father was a panda-youkai from China .”

            “Kioshi… Yukio I don’t know how I am going to remember all of these names! And none of them are showing their real faces,” she admitted.

            “All of their faces are very similar to their true face. It’s just the youkai traits that are hidden. If you look at me on my human night, I look the same as I do now. Don’t worry, Mama-baachan. All of them know you’ve never met them before. They’ll all remind you of who they are.”

            “I’m so glad.”

            “Eggs?” a young man asked, coming up to them from the opposite direction they were facing. He was holding a shopping bag.

            Yukio smiled at him. “And this is my brother Miroku. He’s an inu-hanyou like me,” he said. “Miroku, this is Mama-baachan.”

            Miroku bowed deeply and kissed her hand. “Mama-baachan.”

            “I know you,” she gasped.

            “We have met before. Years ago when my mother wandered into our woods as a toddler and I brought her back. I even left her on the roof once so she wouldn’t try to follow me.”

            “It  ** _is_**  you! I thought I knew you from somewhere!” she replied, her eyes wide.

            “Of course I didn’t know she was my mother at the time,” Miroku commented, flashing angry eyes at his oldest brother. “I just thought I was going crazy when you and she smelled familiar. No one bothered to  ** _tell_**  me the truth until three years ago.”

            Yukio gave him a sheepish smile and a little shrug. “Mom and Dad told me I wasn’t allowed.”

            “Eri knew,” his brother countered.

            “Eri’s a snoop.”

            Miroku rolled his eyes. “Anyway, here are the requested eggs,” he said, handing Mama-baachan the grocery bag.

            “Arigato,” she answered with a bow. “I’ll put these in the kitchen. Please excuse me.”

            They watched her go.

            “She’s holding up rather well,” Miroku commented.

            Yukio nodded. “She’s used to the unusual. Look at how she handled Mom and Dad when they were still able to go through the well.”

            The other inu-hanyou nodded. “Mom and Dad aren’t here yet?”

            He shook his head. “No. Soon though. They’re taking a hired car from the train station. Dad won’t let Mom ride the subway.”

            Miroku just shook his head and snickered. “Frankly, I liked your idea of sealing him to a tree until after the baby is born.”

            “Me too. Pity Mom wouldn’t go for it.”

            Mama-baachan rejoined them and Yukio offered her his arm, which she accepted. As she did so, Miroku sniffed and turned his head to look for someone.

            “Ah, there’s Ranma. I need to talk to him about the Frankfurt accounts. I’ll see you later, okay?” he said.

            Yukio nodded. “Okay.”

            Miroku bowed to his grandmother and kissed her hand again. “I am sure we will have plenty of time to talk and get to know each other. I live only a hop away from here.”

            Mama-baachan smiled. “You must come for tea or dinner sometime.”

            Miroku grinned. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

            With a final nod, he headed off to talk to his brother.

            “He seems like such a nice boy,” she sighed. “I remember when he brought Kagome back all those times.”

            Yukio nodded. “He’s a little mad at me because I kept the truth from him, but I know why my parents made the choice they did and it was for Okaa-san’s protection. If there was even a hint that my mother would be endangered, I’d have glued my mouth shut.”

            “Just like your father.”

            “No. Otou-san would never glue his mouth shut. Then he couldn’t curse anymore.”

            Mama-baachan giggled.

            They surveyed the growing crowd and Yukio looked up to the clouds.

            “Looks like the weather is going to hold. At least the sun’s not out and it isn’t too humid,” he noted.

            “Yes. We aren’t supposed to get rain until tonight.”

            He nodded. “Tetsu promised to make sure the weather would be okay. He can control storms when he wants to.”

            “Tetsu?”

            “Tetsukazu. He’s Mom and Dad’s youngest. He’s a dragon-hanyou. He’s not here yet. I think he’s coming over from Yokohama with Izayoi.”

            Mama-baachan gasped. “A dragon-hanyou?”

            “Yeah. They’re extremely rare. The only reason Mom and Dad got him was because his mother died and his human relatives were too afraid to kill him.”

            “Oh how awful.”

            Yukio shrugged. “He was better off with us anyway.”  _‘We were all better off. No one could have done a better job of raising all of us than my parents. I think this new baby will do them a world of good. Okaa-san’s arms have been empty for too long.’_

            “It looks like Kagome did a wonderful job raising all of these children.”

            “Otou-san too. He is a good father. He was harsh at times, and firm, but none of us have ever doubted that he loves us.”

            “Inuyasha spent so much of his life hated and alone. It’s no wonder that he tried so hard to make sure none of his children ever felt that way.”

            He smiled at her insight. “Exactly.”

            “YU-U-U-K-I-I-O-O!!!” came a booming voice.

_‘Isato…’_

            He grinned, pulled away from his grandmother, and faced the owner of the voice. The man was barreling towards him, his head down. Ignoring his grandmother’s gasp and cry of warning, he stepped forward and butted his head into Isato’s charge. There was a loud  ** _crack_**  from the impact, and if both of them had been human they would have been comatose from the head injury, but because they were both hanyous they didn’t even get a headache.

            “Yukio! My brother!” Isato enthused, grabbing him into a huge hug.

            “How are you, Isato?” he answered, gasping as his back was slapped enthusiastically.

            Isato stepped away, grinning and Yukio noticed he had a new concealment spell. Instead of his former Japanese appearance, he had traded it for a dark haired, olive-skinned Spanish look.

_‘Huh.’_

            “Oh, I am well! Very well!” Isato answered in English.

            “You got a new concealment spell.”  _‘And why are you talking in English? Spanish-accented English no less?’_

            “Oh yes. Do you like it? I look like Antonio Banderas, yes? The Spanish ladies love me!” he replied, spinning to show off his new look.

            “Ah, and how is Spain ?”

            “Spain ? Spain is magnifico! She is my Mother Country!”

            Yukio raised one eyebrow. ‘ _You were born in Echigo, Japan,’_  he thought dourly, but said instead, “I’m glad that you have found a place where you are happy.”

            “Oh, happiness is not the word. She is a paradise! And the ladies... the ladies have no equal. You must meet Isabella, my brother! She is magnificent.”

            Yukio’s eyes were drawn to a raven-haired, dark-eyed beauty that was coming towards them.

_‘Hmm, hanyou, but I can’t make the cross.’_

            “Isabella, my darling. Meet my dearest brother, Yukio,” Isato introduced, taking her hand.

            The hanyou female curtsied perfectly and offered her hand to him. He bowed as he took it and placed his lips upon the back of her hand, all while taking a discrete whiff to make sure the scent of human death was not on her. Isato wasn’t picky about who he took to his bed. In fact, his requirements were fairly simple: 1) was it female? and 2) was it breathing? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d brought home a human-eater, and he’d have to break the news to him before their father found out. Isato’s nose wasn’t anywhere near as acute as his own and the bull-hanyou often couldn’t tell.

             _‘That and he’s not the brightest of us. It’s a shame Father’s swords can’t increase I.Q.’_

            Luckily, Isabella smelled clean.

            “It is a pleasure, my lady,” he said to her as he released her hand. “Once again my brother has chosen a lovely woman.”

            She giggled and snapped open a lace fan to hide her face. “You are too kind, Senor.”

            He managed another smile at her, then turned his attention to his brother.

            “Isato, please meet Okaa-san’s mother, Mama-baachan,” he said.

            “Ah! Senora! It is easy to see where my mother gets her beauty!” Isato exclaimed in Spanish-accented Japanese which made Yukio cringe because it was just ** _wrong_**. “You are a Tokyo rose!” 

            He kissed her hand as she blushed and giggled. “Thank you.”

            “You must come to Barcelona . I have a villa there. It is most luxurious and beautiful.”

            “I’d... I’d like that someday. Thank you for the invitation.”

            “Come in July. We will go to Pamplona to see the running of the bulls, and cheer for the bulls, no?”

            Yukio saw Mama-baachan fight to find words to answer. Thankfully, Isato’s attention-span, which was never very long to begin with, was distracted by a newcomer to the gathering.

            “Ah! I see my sister Mariko. Come Isabella. You two must meet!”

            He grabbed the hanyou female and dragged her off. Yukio heard his grandmother give a small sigh of relief.

            “Bull-hanyou,” he explained. “Not the sharpest tack in the box, but... whew... strong. Very strong.”

            “He certainly seems very... passionate,” she replied, choosing her words carefully.

            Yukio snickered. “That is one way to describe him.” He looked at his watch. It was 3:15. He frowned.  _‘Mom and Dad aren’t here yet.’_

            “Mama! Mama!” a familiar voice cried and he looked up to see Souta running up to them.

            “Ah, okaeri nasai, Souta,” Mama-baachan greeted.

            “Who are all of these people?” the thirteen-year old asked, wide-eyed.

            “Souta! I’m surprised you don’t recognize me!” Yukio complained, a smile tugging at his lips.

            “Eh? Who are you?”

            “Well, I guess it could have something to do with the fact that the last time you saw me I was this big and could barely say your name,” he replied, spreading his hands about one meter apart.

            “Huh?”

            Yukio gave a quick look around, confirming that there were no unaccounted for humans in the shrine, then he took off his ring.

            “AGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!”

            Yukio slapped his hand over the screaming teen’s mouth to silence him.

            “Souta! It’s me, Yukio. Remember? Kagome and Inuyasha’s son,” he whispered hoarsely, kneeling on one knee behind the boy.

            “Mmmmmmpphh???” Souta mumbled against his palm, his eyes wide.

            “Do you recognize me now?”

            The boy’s head nodded vigorously.

            Slowly he let Souta go, half expecting him to scream again.

            “You don’t look anything like you used to, but Inu-no-niichan always used to grab me like that when I walked in on him and Kagome so I knew it had to be you.”

 _‘Oh really?’_  he thought amusedly just as Mama-baachan gave a choked gasp.

            “How’d you get so big so fast?”  
            He gave his young uncle a small smile. “That’s a long story and I’ll leave it for my parents to tell you.”

            “Are Kagome and Inu-no-niichan here?”

            He shook his head. “No. They’re coming from Osaka by train.”

            “Train? Did you take the train too?”

            “No, I rode my bike up from Osaka this morning.”

            Souta gasped. “Is that  ** _your_**  cool racing bike parked in front of the steps?”

            He laughed. “Yeah, that’s mine.”

            “Awesome! Can I have a ride on it, please?!”

            He cast a nervous glance up at his grandmother who was looking rather shocked.

            “You’d better ask your mother for permission.”

            Souta turned pleading eyes to his mother. “Mama? Can I please?”

            “Souta... I... I don’t know. Motorcycles are very dangerous...”

            “And I don’t have a spare helmet,” Yukio added, rapping lightly on Souta’s skull. “If I wreck the bike, I’ll be fine, but your weak human head’d crack open and your brains would smear all over the highway.”

            “Eeeewwwwww!!!” Souta gasped and even Mama-baachan turned slightly green.

            “Besides that bike’s a little uncomfortable with two riders, even for a little scrap of a thing like you. I’ve got another that’ll be better. I’ll be here in Japan for a while so why don’t I drive up with it sometime and we’ll go for a ride?”

            “Oh awesome!! That would be great!” Souta exclaimed.

            “Put your ring back on before I graft it permanently into your forehead with my foot, you twit,” Eri’s furious voice commanded.

            Yukio gulped and flattened his ears as he looked up at the raging neko-youkai.

_‘She’s almost as scary as Okaa-san when she’s angry.’_

            “Who are you?” Souta asked.

            “This blithering idiot’s sister,” she answered harshly. “Now put it back on, Yukio, before someone who isn’t supposed to sees you.”

            “Eri, there’s  ** _no one_**  here!” he argued.

            “You’ve got a  ** _sister?_** ”

            “Yes,” they both replied in unison.

            Eri took a deep breath. “Yukio,” she said patiently. “You don’t spend enough time here in Japan since you moved to Canada with Mom and Dad. The Fushikenwa and Nishitaishou families are still big enough names to catch the attention of the press. At any time an entourage of reporters from the tabloids could come in here. Until we get a Spell of Normalcy cast over this place, you should keep yourself concealed. This is to protect you and to protect Mom and Dad. What do you think Dad would do if a bunch of slobbering paparazzi showed up here with cameras flashing and they could see you? There could be chaos. Someone might get hurt.  ** _Mom_**  might get hurt.”

            One look at Eri’s face and he knew she was being deadly serious. While he craved open space and the untainted wilderness, Eri loved cities and the urban life. She was far more qualified to make a judgment on the dangers of their situation than he. Where he lived, sometimes he could go days without meeting another individual. He nodded gravely and put the ring back on.

            “That is  ** _so cool!_** ” Souta enthused.

            Eri nodded in approval. “Thank you.”

            Standing, he faced his sister. “Mom and Dad aren’t here yet. They must have been delayed. I’ll wait another ten minutes then I’ll call Dad on his cell phone.”

            She nodded and crossed her arms. “About half of us are here already. I just saw Rumiko and Asame arrive. Ryoukan’s not here yet, but I wouldn’t expect him until after the meal is served. He still prefers his food raw.”

            “Is everything in place and to your liking?” Mama-baachan asked.

            Yukio surveyed the tables, the canopies put up in case of rain, the floral decorations and the efficient catering staff that was now serving hors d'oeuvres and drinks from trays carried by waitpersons. Everything seemed perfectly in order and going smoothly.

            “Well the ice sculptures are melting, but that’s to be expected. I’ve got an ice-demon hanyou working on prolonging their lifespan, but she can only do so much,” Eri replied.

            “Whose bright idea were they anyway?” Yukio questioned.

            Eri gave him a shrug. “I have no idea. Probably some simpering toady of Uncle’s who thought they would make a nice touch. They weren’t in anything  ** _I_**  ordered, and the delivery boy listed them as a gift.”

            “My guess is it was what’s-her-name. [Haruichimirou](http://www.kabalarians.com/male/haruichirou.htm)-sama’s mate. The ditz who doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together. Swans seem right up her alley,” he commented.

            “I think I know who you’re talking about. Blue hair, always has a vacant look on her face?”

            He nodded. “Yeah her. The one who thought I was calling from jail when I said I was using a cell phone.”

            Eri snickered. “I remember that. It was the last time we went to Uncle’s for New Year’s and all the courtiers showed up.” She looked at her watch and frowned. “Anyway, it’s almost twenty after three. The band is due to arrive at 5. I have a harpist coming in to play during the meal. She should already be here actually...”

            She gave a quick scan for the harpist but came up empty. However, she suddenly sniffed and went still. Yukio sniffed too and immediately recognized the scents. Then a wave of awareness passed among the guests and the din of conversation quieted to a whisper as all heads turned to face the entrance to the shrine grounds.

            “What is it?” Mama-baachan asked nervously, whispering in the sudden quiet.

            He opened his mouth to answer when a loud, irritated voice answered for him:

            “Oh yeah? Well,  ** _you_**  didn’t have a  ** _needle_**  shoved in your ass every week for  ** _six months!_** ”

            “Mom and Dad are here,” he announced.

            “Really? Are you sure? We could be hearing him bellow from the next prefecture,” Eri commented.

            “True. I’d better go check.”

            He stepped forward but his arm was quickly grabbed by his grandmother.

            “Kagome?” she questioned, her eyes hopeful.

            He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. “Yes.”

            She gasped and moved towards the stairs, her pace increasing the closer she got to them. The crowd parted to let her pass and Yukio followed at her heels. She stopped several feet away from the shrine entrance and waited.

            The first figures up the stairs weren’t his parents, but his brother Tetsukazu and his sister Izayoi. He whispered their names to his grandmother, but she only nodded, her eyes fixed on the top step.

            “They’re right behind us,” Tetsu said quietly as he and Izayoi came over to him.

            “They were getting out of the car just as we were walking up. Mama looks stressed and tired,” Izayoi added.

             _‘Crap,_ ’ he thought.  _‘I was worried the train ride would be too much for her. They should have stayed at fucking Tokyo House, steps bedamned! She had to climb these ones anyway so it didn’t make a shit bit of difference.’_

            “Are you alright?” his father’s voice asked, closer now.

            No answer.

            “You should just let me carry you, wench.”

            No answer.

            “Why are you being so damn stubborn?”

            Behind him and Mama-baachan, the rest of the guests began to gather close. He could feel the press of their bodies at his back and it made him slightly claustrophobic.

            “You’re just doing this to get back at me for this morning, aren’t you?”

            Still no answer from his mother and he frowned.  _‘Either she’s too busy concentrating on getting up the stairs to yell back at him, or she’s too angry to scream.’_

            Two heads appeared over the top of the stairs and he tensed. The heads were followed by two sets of shoulders, then chests, and then the rest of their bodies as his father helped his mother slowly climb up. As always, while his voice was complaining and irritated, his father’s body language said the exact opposite. His hand was lightly on the small of his mother’s back, his other hand supporting her under one arm to both steady her and support her weight with each step up. His face was concerned and serious. His mother looked exhausted.

            He almost went to help, but he knew how territorial his father had been lately so he kept his distance, and his parents finally made it to the top. They were dressed finely. His father was wearing a loose white raw silk shirt with rolled cuffs, his prayer beads peaking out from underneath the open collar, and a pair of black cotton pants. On his feet were the open toed Birkenstock sandals he preferred whenever he had to wear shoes. On his right ring finger he wore the signet ring that anchored his concealment spell. Tessaiga was at his side as always, in its sheath, but the concealment spell made it look like a cell phone that was attached to his waistband. Because the blade had been broken all those years ago and his demon blood had been released, Inuyasha never went far without the sealing sword; unlike Yukio whose sword had never been broken and his youkai blood never released. He still had it with him though. It was in the satchel he had packed that morning, in its own enchanted carrier that shrank the blade and made it fit into the small pack.

            His mother was dressed in a lovely green silk dress with a matching long open jacket. It was loose and generous to accommodate her growing belly, and he knew she had gone for comfort rather than style. On her feet were the custom made walking sandals that she loved so much and that were easy for her to walk in.

            Neither of his parents were looking ahead of them as they cleared the stairs. His mother was looking down at her feet, while his father’s attention was completely on his mate. But when they finally did come out of their own little world to take stock of their surroundings, they stopped short at the sight of everyone gathered there waiting for them.

            Yukio saw his father survey the crowd with both wary and approving eyes, and he also noted how he tightened his grip on his mother’s arm and drew her just a little closer.

_‘Even here among his own family he’s still defensive and territorial.’_

            His mother, however, only had eyes for Mama-baachan.

            “Mama?” she said in a small voice.

            The sound gave him pause. While he knew that his parents had stopped aging 450 years ago and still bore the same youthful appearance they had back then, he never saw them as “young.” To him, they were always older and somehow wiser, especially his mother, but right now she looked every bit the tender age of eighteen she had been the day his father had made his wish on the Shikon no Tama.

            “Kagome,” Mama-baachan replied.

            Kagome took a step forward, her arms reaching out. “Mama.”

            “Kagome,” Mama-baachan breathed again as she rushed forward and, heedless of Inuyasha’s warning glare, embraced her daughter.

            “Mama!” Kagome cried, hugging her mother as she burst into tears and began to sob. “Mama. Mama.”

            Yukio moved closer, coming to stand only a few steps away from where his mother and grandmother were embracing, and he could hear their words perfectly.

            “Shhh, Kagome. I’m here. Mama’s here now,” she comforted, stroking her daughter’s hair.

            “I missed you so much. It’s been so long!” Kagome sobbed.

            “I know. But I’m here now. We’re together again.”

            “It’s been so hard without you,” Kagome admitted, hugging her mother tighter.

            “I know, but it’s alright now. Everything will be alright now,” Mama-baachan soothed, tucking Kagome’s head into her shoulder.

            “Oi, be careful, she’s delicate,” Inuyasha warned.

            Mama-baachan smiled at him and, much to Yukio’s amazement, reached out to rub his father’s ears. What was even more amazing was that his father didn’t jerk away.

            “I know, dear, I know.”

            Then Mama-baachan reached out and put an arm across Inuyasha’s shoulders, drawing him close. Inuyasha’s arm came up to loosely hug her and he buried his nose in her hair.

            There were several expectant moments as the rest of them watched Kagome be reunited with her mother. No one approached too closely and let the three have their private moment of reunion until Inuyasha stepped back, followed by Kagome who beamed at her mother and wiped the tears from her eyes.

            “I love you, Mama,” she said softly.

            “I love you too, Kagome. So much.”

            As if by some unspoken agreement, the spell was broken and the heavy silence erupted into a cacophony of voices all vying to be heard at once.

            Yukio knew they were making a mistake. Their father was far too stressed and protective for him to handle all of them converging on their mother at once. He tried to intervene before it became an ‘incident,’ putting himself between his mother and grandmother and the others.

            “Everyone wait! Just hold on a second!”

            A few stopped and listened to him, but others, too excited to really hear his warning, simply went around him.

_‘Shit!’_

            “Hey guys, wait a minute. At least let Okaa-san sit down! She’s pregnant and just climbed those steps!” he tried again.  

            His request was drowned out by numerous voices calling for their mother. He heard his father growl and smelled the tell-tale scent of his rage, then there was the unmistakable sound of sliding metal and he felt the pulse of Tessaiga. He took a brief look to confirm that his father had indeed drawn the sword and was now holding it horizontally over his head in a gesture that all of the children knew meant, ‘Freeze and shut up!’

            They froze and shut up. Inuyasha didn’t even have to say a word, but Yukio could hear him huffing under his breath and see the stress radiating from him. It was obvious that he was holding himself in check, trying not to come out swinging because he did not want to harm his children. Besides he had to know such a display would earn him repeated ‘sittings’ if he even tried. It didn’t look like his mother was in any mood to deal with her mate’s overprotective temper.

            “Someone bring a chair!” Yukio ordered into the sudden silence.

            A chair was set down next to him immediately and he turned to his mother.

            “Okaa-san, please…”

            Kagome gave him a tired, grateful smile and moved forward to sit down. He gave her a swift hug.

            “You look lovely.”

            “Thank you,” she replied. “You’re looking handsome as ever. I didn’t see you. You left early this morning.”

            He smiled and kissed her on the temple, sneaking in a quick lick to her chin. “I wanted to get here and make sure everything went smoothly,” he explained, then looked up at his father.

            “Let’s carry her over to the head of the table,” he suggested.

            Inuyasha nodded and sheathed Tessaiga. Then he and his father stood on opposite sides of the chair and they both lifted it up with his mother still in it as they carried it over to the long, decorated table, which was actually several tables placed all in a row. They set her down beside the table, but with the chair facing outward so the table was at her back.

            “Is this good, Okaa-san?” he asked her.

            She nodded. “Yeah, this is fine. Thank you.”

            “Do you need anything?”

            “Something to drink?” she requested.

            He smiled. “I’ll get you some water.”

            “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

            Once his mother was settled in the chair with her water, Mama-baachan came to stand next to her while Inuyasha took a few steps to the side to allow the others to come forward. It was chaos for the first fifteen minutes as children who hadn’t seen their parents in three years came to greet them enthusiastically.

            “Mama!” “Mother!” “Okaa-san!” “Mom!”

            “Papa!” “Father!” “Oyaji!” “Otou-san!” “Dad!”

            Kagome’s obvious pregnancy was a hot topic of conversation and everyone wanted an update on how things were going. When the rush of greetings died down, Yukio took his place at Inuyasha’s right shoulder and stood with him. His father gave him a nod but basically ignored him as he crossed his arms and kept a wary eye out for potential dangers.

            “You can stop mate guarding, Dad. We’re all family here,” he reminded teasingly, hoping the light tone would get his father to relax a little.

            “Feh. As if that ever meant anything,” Inuyasha scoffed back.

            “Okay, I amend my statement. We’re all family here and none of us are Uncle. Better?”

            “Heh,” Inuyasha answered but a bit of the tension did go out of his shoulders.

            “Mama, would you like me to cast the Spell of Normalcy?” he heard his sister Mariko ask.

            Mariko was a bird-hanyou and she had some miko powers. If she cast the spell instead of his mother, Kagome wouldn’t have to expend the energy to cast and anchor it.

            “That would be wonderful, Mariko,” his mother answered.

            “Un.”

            Out of the corner of his eye he watched his sister, resplendent in a turquoise and silver dress with matching caftan, set the markers to define the boundaries of the spell and then anchor energy into them to cast it. The familiar feel of disorientation flowed over them, making them momentarily dizzy, but then they all breathed a collective sigh of relief and removed their concealment spells. Immediately the crowd of mostly black-haired humans became a sea of varied color and shape and size as all of them revealed their true forms.

            “What’s a Spell of Normalcy?” he heard Mama-baachan ask.

            “It’s a spell that makes people see only what we want them to see. If someone came in here now, all he would see would be humans gathered here and nothing would seem out of the ordinary. We cast it over whatever area we’re gathered in to protect us but also to give them the opportunity to be themselves,” Kagome explained.

            “Ooooh,” Mama-baachan breathed.

            Mariko, now in her true form with a beak and teal feathers for hair, came back over in a flurry of turquoise and silver.

            “There Mama.”

            “Thank you, baby. It’s perfect.”

            Mariko bent to kiss her mother’s cheek, as much as she was able with a beak for a nose and mouth. “Anything for you, Mama.”

            “Mama.” “Okaa-san.” Sango and Kaiya greeted as they came up.

            “Hello, sweethearts.”

            Yukio turned his attention back to his father and let his sisters fuss over their mother.

            “How was the ride up?”

            “Long.”

            “I told you we should have stayed at Tokyo House. Mom had to climb the shrine stairs anyway so it didn’t make a difference.”

            “Shut up,” Inuyasha snapped irritably, which meant that he’d already realized his mistake, but didn’t want to admit it.

            Yukio just smirked to himself and took off his signet ring, dropping it into his pocket. He watched his father do the same, then kick off the hated Birkenstocks.

            “Inuyasha,” Jii-chan called as he and Souta came over to them.

            A quick glance revealed that Kagome and Mama-baachan were still swamped so his uncle and great-grandfather must have decided to take their chances with Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked down at the thirteen-year old and Jii-chan, and Yukio swore he saw a shimmer of emotion. Then Inuyasha bowed slightly to Jii-chan, just a fraction but a bow nonetheless.

            “Hello, old man.” The words were harsh but the tone was respectful.

_‘Whoa…’_

            “Inu-no-niichan,” Souta said.

            “Whaddya want, kid?” his father asked, his voice irritated as usual, but his posture had softened making Yukio reassess what this reunion meant to his father.

            He’d always assumed that Inuyasha was going to such great lengths for Kagome because she missed her family in the Modern Era. It never crossed his mind that his ** _father_**  might have missed them just as much, but his body language was saying just that.

             _‘Well, I guess he could see Souta as a little brother and Jii-chan as the closest thing he has to a father-in-law. Okaa-san said her family always accepted Otou-san,’_ he thought.

            “I was supposed to be the cool big uncle,” the teen complained. “You promised that I could be, but Yukio’s all grown up. I missed it.”

            Yukio watched as his father gave the boy a tender smile and that solidified his suspicions even more.

            “Things didn’t work out that way, kid, I’m sorry.”

            Souta pouted for all of three seconds then smiled. “But that’s okay because my  ** _nephew_**  is going to take me out for a ride on his cool bike!”

            Inuyasha looked uncomfortable and scratched his head. “Ahhh, do your mother and sister know that?”

            “Mama said I could!” the teen insisted.

            He stepped forward and spoke softly in inu-youkai. :Pack-brother safe with beta-male.:

            :Impulsive pup,: his father replied with an incredulous look.

            His eyes opened wide and he snorted. :Impulsive leader-male!:

            “Seriously, you know I’d never let him come to harm. My hanyou reflexes are much sharper and faster than any human’s,” he added verbally.

            Inuyasha nodded. “It’s not me you have to convince.”

            “Yukio said he’d ride up with a bike that’s better for two riders,” Souta clarified.

            “Ahh, the Triumph?” his father questioned.

            He nodded. The good thing about traveling overland and by yacht meant that he could bring three of his favorite bikes with him.

            “Good choice.”

            “Inuyasha!” Jii-chan scolded sharply, making his father jump.

            “Eh?”

            “What have you been doing with my granddaughter?” the old man demanded.

            “Huh?”

            “How many years have you lived together? And now Kagome is  ** _pregnant!_** ”

            Yukio snickered at his father’s shocked expression.

            “And you’re not properly  ** _married!_**  The dishonor to our proud family! The shame!”

            “Ehh?  ** _What??_**  We are too married, old man! We just celebrated our 450th wedding anniversary!” Inuyasha argued, flushed.

            “You are? How? When?”

            “Here! In the Feudal Era. 1549.”

            “Oh, well, I suppose it’s alright then.”

            Inuyasha sputtered and Yukio hid his mouth behind his hand so his father wouldn’t see his smile.

            “Was the officiant a Shinto priest?” Jii-chan asked shrewdly.

            “Ehh? She was a miko, and he was a houshi.”

            “Ieeeeee!! Not even a proper wedding!” Jii-chan cried. “The shame! The shame! I must pray to the ancestors and make offerings to the gods!”

            The old man moved to hurry off, but then turned and wagged an accusing finger at Inuyasha. “You are marrying my granddaughter in a proper wedding! You will bring honor back to this family.”

            With that he scurried away, muttering about proper offerings and prayers. Yukio lost his battle with laughter and howled.

            “Inuyasha, what did you do to my grandfather?” Kagome’s voice accused.

            Inuyasha looked even more trapped his eyes wide and scrambling. “Nothing! I didn’t do anything to him!”

            Yukio only laughed harder.

            The potential sitting was interrupted by the arrival of Shippou, his mate, their kits and grandkits.

            “Kagome-baachan! Kagome-baachan! Kagome-baachan!” six high-pitched voices cried as they swarmed around the chair, and Yukio had to stop his father from wading in and peeling the kits off his mother.

            Kagome didn’t seem to be bothered by them as she laughed and petted each red-haired head. “Hello, all of you. My how you’ve grown.”

            “We haven’t seen you in forever!” the youngest boy, Ashi, exclaimed.

            “We saw her in October in Disney World,” his oldest sister, Kaede corrected.

            “Well, that’s forever, isn’t it?” Kagome asked sweetly, humoring the kit.

            “For a kit? Yes,” Shippou confirmed as he came over. “Hello, Kagome.”

            Kagome beamed up at him. “Shippou. You’re looking very well. Hello, Mitsiyomi,” she said, greeting Shippou’s mate.

            “Hello, Kagome-san.” The kitsune female still insisted on using the honorific.

            “And  ** _you_**  are looking very pregnant,” Shippou teased.

            Yukio saw his mother put a hand on her lower abdomen. “Really? Is it that obvious?”

            “Only to us sharp-eyed kitsunes. Has Inuyasha noticed yet?” the adult fox said with a wink.

            “Oi!” Inuyasha growled.

            They just giggled and Kagome turned to Mama-baachan.

            “Mama, remember the little kitsune kit I always told you about?”

            “The one you always brought candy and crayons?”

            “Yes. This is him, all grown up with kits of his own.”

            Shippou bowed and smiled. “Higurashi-san.”

            Mama-baachan bowed back. “I’m pleased to meet you. Kagome always spoke very kindly of you.”

            “She and Inuyasha became my surrogate parents after my father was killed. I see Kagome as my mother as much as any of their officially adopted children do, and as you can see, my grandkits adore her,” Shippou replied.

            “When are we going to go back to Disney World, Kagome-baachan?” another of the kits asked, tugging on Kagome’s dress.

            “I don’t know, Genji. Not for a long time. Kagome-baachan is going to have a kit of her own soon,” she answered.

            The kit, Genji, put his ear to Kagome’s belly, and Yukio had to step on his father’s foot to keep him from going over and tossing the kit away from his mate.

            “Easy, Oyaji. He’s just a little kid.”

            Inuyasha just growled softly.

            “I can hear him Kagome-baachan! He says he wants to go to Disney World,” the kit enthused, making everyone around him giggle.

            Two adult kitsunes came forward and started peeling kits away from Kagome.

            “Come on now. We shouldn’t tire Kagome-baachan out,” one of them chided as she reached for three of the kits.

            “Hello, Sakamae,” Kagome said.

            “Kagome-san.”

            Suddenly his mother gasped, making both he and his father start.

            “You’re pregnant!” she exclaimed.

            Sakamae blushed and nodded. “Yes. A boy, finally,” she answered, looking at her three girls. The remaining three kits, two boys and a girl, were gathered around the other adult kitsune.

            “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”

            Sakamae cast a glance at the adult male kitsune behind her and he nodded.

            “Kagome-san,” she began slowly, looking at both his mother and raising her eyes to his father, making Inuyasha take a step forward. “With your and Inuyasha-san’s blessing, we’d like to name this kit Akihiro.”

 _‘Akihiro. Oh my…’_  Yukio thought, feeling a pang for his dead kitsune-hanyou brother.

            His mother took a sharp breath. “Akihiro? I…” She looked over at Inuyasha whose face had gone unreadable. He did, however, give her a short nod. “We would be honored, Sakamae. Thank you,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

            Sakamae bowed and kissed Kagome’s hand. “It is our hope that such a strong name will help him become a strong and brave kitsune.”

            More tears fell from his mother’s eyes and he saw his father clench his jaw even harder.

_‘He’s holding back his own tears. He never cried for Akihiro; not like he cried for Sai. He said Akihiro didn’t deserve tears because he died such an honorable death, and that we should be proud. I didn’t cry in front of him, but I bawled with Okaa-san later.’_

            “If he is anything like his namesake, he will do you proud,” Kagome said, wiping her cheeks.

            Sakamae gathered her daughters and tugged them away. “Come now, we’ll have more time with Kagome-baachan later.”

            A chorus of “Bye!”s came from the children as they followed their parents.

            “We’ll go find seats ourselves, Kagome,” Shippou said, watching his children lead the grandkits away. “Don’t tire yourself by trying to do too much, alright?”

            “I won’t. Besides, I really can’t. I have an overprotective mate who goes ballistic if I sneeze.”

Yukio snickered and cast a glance at his father who was looking irritated.

            “Well, after this morning. Too much wax on the floor? Oyaji, really. Do we still have a housekeeper at Osaka House or will I be conducting interviews next week?”

            Inuyasha huffed and frowned. “She didn’t quit.”

            “Well, that’s good news.”

            “Kagome gave her a 12% raise. Called it hazard pay.”

            “Hazard pay?” he repeated with a chuckle. “With you as an employer, I can see why.”

            “Shut up. The floors were too slippery.”

            Yukio just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

_‘Otou-san never admits he’s wrong.’_

            “And you, Inuyasha. Yes, I see you there trying to play the alpha-male,” Shippou said, coming over.

            “I  ** _am_**  the alpha-male,” Inuyasha corrected irritably.

            Shippou snorted but winked. “You take good care of her or I’ll kitsune-bi your ass.”

            “Keh!”

            Shippou lowered his voice and spoke softly, “Seriously. She’s looking very tired and worn. I remember when Mitsiyomi was pregnant with Keitarou. She slept a lot and was tired all the time. Kagome looks the same way. You can’t be too careful with her.”

            “Feh, tell that to pups who insist I’m overreacting.”

            “He  ** _is_**  going ballistic every time she sneezes,” Yukio confirmed.

            “With all the trouble and disappointment she’s had, I would too.”

            The adult kitsune put an arm around them both and patted their backs.

            “Still, it’s good to see both of you. Mitsiyomi and I will be sticking close until the baby is born, both of them now that Sakamae is pregnant too. If you need anything, just call us.”

            “Thanks,” Inuyasha said.

            “You call us when she goes into labor. We’ll come down to the hospital. Are you going to be here or in Osaka ?”

            Inuyasha frowned. “Here. Kagome laid down the law and said we weren’t going back. She wants to be near her mother.”

            Shippou nodded. “Mitsiyomi was the same way. Mothers really help their daughters when it comes to labor and birth.”

            “So we’re staying at Tokyo House?” Yukio asked.

            Inuyasha nodded. “Yeah.”

            “Okay. I’ll take the train back tonight and come back on the Triumph in the morning. Do you need me to bring anything back with me?”

            “No. We brought it all and took it to Tokyo House. That’s why we were so late.”

            “Ah. I was wondering about that.”

            “We’ll talk more later,” Shippou promised.

            “Okay,” Yukio replied.

            Inuyasha just nodded and they watched the kitsune go off with his family.

            “Well, everything seems to be going well so far,” he said to his father, giving him a nudge with his elbow.

            “Seems so. Kagome’s happy.”

            “So are you.”

            “Feh. I’m only here for the ramen.”

            “Sure you are.” He looked around. “Looks like almost everyone is here.”

            He saw his father close his eyes and take a deep inhale through his nose. Inuyasha knew all of his children by scent and could easily pick out any one of them in a crowd.

            “Ryoukan, Takuma, Hitomi and Jubei aren’t here yet,” Inuyasha said, opening his eyes.

            “Neither is Uncle or Aunt Rin.”

            Inuyasha frowned. “Is  ** _he_**  supposed to be here?”

            Yukio chuckled.  _‘452 years and they’re **still**  at it.’_ “I think so. Aunt Rin at least.”

            “Her I can deal with. Sesshoumaru… if he pesters Kagome about the latest investment prospectus, I’m decking him. I don’t care if Kagome sits me.”

            “I’ll distract her so you can get in a few good slugs before she makes you eat concrete.”

            “That’s my boy. I knew I could count on you.”

            “Always,” he answered with absolute seriousness.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 

            Once most of the guests had arrived and the food was ready to be served, they took their seats at the long table and the meal began. In keeping with Inuyasha’s poor opinion of pomp and protocol, it was a self-serve buffet which suited the majority of the guests just fine. A few thought they shouldn’t have to serve themselves and wait staff had been provided for them to fetch food from the buffet, but none of them were a part of Inuyasha’s brood. Growing up in a household with so many family members, granted there had nev er been more than six of them living in their parents’ house at one time, they had learned the necessity of grabbing for the food while there was still some left. They did try, however, to practice at least some rudimentary table manners for the benefit of their mother- at least while she was looking.

            Kagome and Inuyasha were seated at the head of the table, flanked by Mama, Souta and Jii-chan on Kagome’s side and Yukio, Eri and Tetsukazu on Inuyasha’s side. Everyone else grabbed seats where they could and sat in no particular order except that mates and families sat next to each other. Unlike the normally reserved and quiet mealtimes favored in Japan ese culture, this one was lively and full of heated conversations. Many of her adopted children had spread out over the globe and some hadn’t been in their native Japan for many decades. They had taken on the language and customs of their adopted homes and left much of their Japan ese habits behind. It was also safe to assume that the Japanese culture as they knew it back in the Sengoku Jidai and Meiji Eras bore only a token resemblance to the odd mixture of traditional Japanese and Western culture that now represented life in the Modern Era.

            Having not lived in Japan for nigh on eighty years, Kagome felt a bit like a fish out of water. She’d been living in Canada for so long that she no longer had the tolerance for noise and crowds that she once did. Taking the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo that morning had proven that with glaring certainty. The train had gotten uncomfortably crowded and hot the closer it got to Tokyo as people headed to work jammed onto the train. The noise and close proximity of so many people had made her head spin, and she couldn’t imagine what Inuyasha was going through with his hanyou senses. Stubborn to the last, however, he refused to admit that the decision to stay inOsaka had been wrong.

_‘Rigid. Stubborn. Infuriating…’_

            “Kagome. Here’s more Oden for you, koi,” her mate said gently, placing a bowl of the stew in front of her. He’d run back to the buffet three times for her without a word of complaint. Her plate hadn’t stayed empty for more than a few minutes, but he’d been keeping the portions small because he knew she didn’t want to gorge herself.

_‘Sweet, loving, wonderful…’_

            “Thank you, Inuyasha,” she said.

            He gave her a smile and kissed her temple.

            “Anything for you, koishii. Do you want more tea?”

            “No, just water. And I’m going to have to go to the bathroom soon. You know the baby is putting pressure on my bladder these days.”

            “Just let me know when and I’ll help you.”

            “I can pee by myself, Inuyasha,” she reminded.

            “I know that. I meant let me know and I’ll help you walk  ** _to_**  the bathroom.”

_‘Overbearing, rude, violent…’_

            A glass of water with three slices of lemon joined the bowl of Oden.

_‘Three slices of lemon. Just the way I like it. Beautiful, perfect, caring…’_

            “And then the bull, he did to charge!” Isato’s voice rose above the din and she turned her head to see her bull-hanyou son animatedly telling a story to Shippou’s grandkits, his large hands waving as he recounted his tale.

             _‘He loves kids. It’s a shame half the time I’m terrified he’ll trample them before he realizes they’re there. His temper is worse than Inuyasha’s.’_

            The familiar pressure in her lower abdomen signaled it was time for her to make a pit stop.

             _‘Damn, my Oden will be cold by the time I get back,’_ she thought with a heavy sigh.

            “What is it, koi?” Inuyasha asked, hearing her sigh.

_‘Attentive, accommodating, considerate…’_

            “I have to go to the bathroom. Kid just decided to move and practice his kick boxing on my bladder.”

            He was standing beside her and pulling out her chair before she could even ask. Then his hand was lightly grasping her arm and helping her rise to her feet.

            “Oooffff,” she breathed.  _‘And it’s only going to get worse. I’ve only just begun to put on the serious weight. God and I already feel like a beached whale.’_

            She took a step, lost her balance and was immediately caught by her mate steadying her.

            “Careful, koi. Did you trip over your own feet again?” he teased.

_‘Offensive, chauvinistic, piggish…’_

            “I wouldn’t trip if my ankles weren’t so swollen,” she complained.

            “I could always carry you.”

            “No thanks.”

            “Kagome, is everything alright,” her mother asked.

            “Yeah, just have to go to the bathroom.”

            Her mother gave her a knowing smile. “Ah. I remember having the same problem when I was pregnant.”

            “Good, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who’s suffered,” she replied dourly as the pressure on her bladder increased. “Inuyasha, we have to hurry before I have an accident.”

            Without warning, he swept her up into his arms and sprinted to the house.

            “What are you doing?!”

            “Carrying you. What does it look like, wench?”

            “Put me down!”

            “In a second. We’re almost inside.”

            He set her down right outside the bathroom door. “There. Fast enough for you?”

            “Yeah. Osuwari.”

            “Gah!” he gaspe d as he hit the floor. “Bitch!”

            “Nev er get on the wrong side of a pregnant lady,” she warned, shutting the bathroom door in his face.

            To make matters worse, after all the rushing and worry, all that came out was a little trickle.

             _‘I left my Oden for this?’_  she huffed irritably.

            She stayed in the bathroom longer than she needed just for good measure, then washed her hands and stepped out. She found Inuyasha sitting on all fours just outside the bathroom looking dejected.

            “What did you sit me for, Kagome?” he asked, giving her ‘soulful puppy-dog eyes’.™

_‘I will not cry or feel bad. He embarrassed me in front of the children…’_

            He added ‘droopy ears’™ and her resolve wavered.

            “What did I do wrong?”

            “You embarrassed me in front of everyone by picking me up and carrying me like a little child,” she explained, trying to hold onto her anger in the presence of ‘that face.’

            “You said you were going to have an accident. Would it have been less embarrassing for you if I’d let you piss yourself?”

             _‘He was only trying to be helpful and you sat him. You’re an awful, horrible bitch, Kagome.’_

            At the sound of the first sniffle, ‘soulful puppy-dog eyes’ turned into wide-eyed ‘deer in headlights’ and he sputtered.

            “Kag… Kagome, are you crying? D-don’t cry!”

            The sniffle turned into a sob and she covered her face with her hands.

            “K-Kagome-e-e.”

            His hands came up to grip her arms and she realized that he must have stood up when she started crying.

            “I’m sorry,” they both said in unison and his apology for something that wasn’t his fault only made her cry harder.

            “Oh! I’m such a bitch! How can you stand the sight of me?” she sobbed, burying her face in his shoulder.

            His arms came around her and he held her carefully as he stroked her hair and crooned under his breath.

            “Shhhh, there, there. Please don’t cry. I love you. I never get tired of looking at you.”

            Somehow his tender words only made her horrible treatment of him worse.

            “I’m so horrible to you. I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself. I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”

            “Ummm, you’re pregnant?” he offered, his voice slightly teasing.

            She sniffed. “I am aren’t I.”

            He patted her belly very gently. “Feels like it.”

            She snickered and pulled back, wiping her eyes. “I’m still sorry that I’m being such a bitch.”

            “You’re just being pregnant. At least you aren’t puking up your guts every morning like you were two months ago.” He blinked and gave her ‘innocent wide-eyed look.’™ “Are you going to brea k a bucket over my head now?”

            Another small laugh escaped her lips. “I don’t think so. Maybe next week?”

            “I’ll be sure to schedule a root canal on that day just to make sure I’m out of the house.”

            She laughed a little harder and he smiled at her, giving her a little kiss. “I love you.”

            She sighed. “I love you too.”

            “Is everything alright?” Yukio’s voice asked and she turned to see him standing in the hallway, looking concerned.

_‘My baby all grown up. He’s so beautiful.’_

            “Yes, just pregnant lady mood swings and small bladders,” she explained.

            “Oh good. When Otou-san picked you up like that I got worried.”

            She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. But I’m betting my Oden is cold by now.”

            “Bah, I’ll just get you a new bowl and give the cold one to Isato. He won’t know the difference,” Inuyasha replied, taking her by the arm.

            “The sad thing is, you’re probably right,” she admitted as she was flanked by the both of them and they headed back out to the shrine.

            True to his word, Inuyasha brought her a fresh bowl of Oden and her old one was parceled off on Isato, who ate it in-between telling more of his fantastic tales. The bull-hanyou might not be the most intelligent of her children, but he was vibrant and lively, and could tell a great story. She’d often tried to steer him towards a career that suited his talents, but he seemed to prefer racing cars and dating multiple women at once. She figured he would be her playboy son, the one who never really made anything of himself and depended upon his parents for support. Considering the rest of her children were all either in careers or studying for one, if Isato was the only one who never realized his potential, she considered herself lucky.

            Once the meal was over the harpist was replaced by a live band, which was a shame in Kagome’s eyes because she really enjoyed the harpist’s music. Eri had hired a spider-hanyou to play and, considering that she had four arms, she was able to do things with the instrument that normal humans simply weren’t physically able to. She also had six eyes and that was a little unnerving.

In that, she had also been lucky. Of all of her hanyou children, only Sai had ever looked almost non-human, and even then he hadn’t sported any extra limbs or other extremities. She couldn’t imagine what life must have been like for a spider-hanyou growing up in a family where one side had two arms and the other had eight, but she supposed the girl must have had a very understanding family since she seemed relatively well adjusted.

            The band that replaced the harpist was good, however, and played many different types of music. She noticed immediately that they had dropped everything down an octave to accommodate inu-hanyous’ intolerance for high pitched noise and for that she was very grateful. Inuyasha was on edge enough as it was. She didn’t need him to be dealing with a headache on top of everything else.

            After dinner, she turned the chair around again so that it was facing out and Inuyasha brought her another so she could prop up her feet. He was hovering close by but thankfully giving her some breathing room. Currently he was engaged in serious conversation with her grandfather and Yukio, and she briefly wondered what they were talking about. During dinner, she and Inuyasha had explained what had happened when Inuyasha made the wish on the Shikon no Tama, and told them how she and her mate were now pretty much immortal unless one of them was killed. She talked about all the hanyous they had raised over the years and their struggles with Inuyasha’s infertility. Her mother had almost started crying when she heard that her daughter had suffered through four miscarriages before finally carrying an infant into the third trimester. Mama expressed deep regret and sadness for not being able to be there for her through such a difficult time. She smiled and said it was enough that she was there for this pregnancy, especially since it was almost guaranteed to end in a successful birth.

            The afternoon passed happily, except for her near constant trips to the bathroom. Her family was all around her, she was reunited with her mother, brother and grandfather, and she couldn’t have asked for a better day. Sesshoumaru showed up with Rin and he and Inuyasha didn’t try to kill each other; in fact they didn’t even go through the pretend motions the way they usually did. She could only guess that her ‘delicate’ condition had made the taiyoukai err on the side of caution. That and she had no doubt that Rin had threatened him with serious bodily harm in tender places if he tried anything.

            “Mama? How are you feeling, Mama?” Tetsukazu asked her as he came over to stand beside her chair.

            “I’m fine, sweetheart,” she replied, smiling up at her youngest.

            He was almost 215 years old, but in dragon years that made him barely out of adolescence. In many ways he was still very immature and she worried about him all the time. His Sight was so strong, and his Gifts still went wild every now and then. She was never more grateful for the sword at his side than any other gift Inuyasha had ever given any of their children. Jyu-shi-Kenshuga had saved Tetsu’s life more than once, and he had his hand on it now; a clear sign that he was trying not to See.

            He had gotten better with it since the gift of the sword and an extended visit to his dragon relatives. The surviving members of his father’s line had found him some 150 years ago, and he’d been living with them on and off over the years. In the early 80’s however, he’d relocated to New York to follow a career on Wall Street, a profession where his Sight gave him a clear advantage when trying to predict market fluctuations. She hadn’t seen him since the 1997 reunion.

            Tetsu crouched down next to her and reached out a hand.

            “Mama, do you want me to…”

            She took the hand before it could touch her abdomen. “No, honey. We don’t want to know.”

            He seemed relieved then sat on the concrete and rested his head against her thigh.

            “Headache?” she asked.

            He nodded and she began to rub his scalp and neck with one hand, knowing her touch would soothe him. Soon the low rumble of the dragon purr was coming from his throat.

            “Ah, Kagome,” her mother sighed. “I had always worried about what we were going to do about your future.”

            “You’re looking at my future, Mama,” she replied, still rubbing Tetsu’s scalp. “My children, my mate… I did become a pediatric doctor and specialized in hanyous, but I’ve been semi-retired since we started the fertility treatments. I couldn’t keep up the hectic schedule and still be available for all of the things that needed to be done. I still see patients every now and then, if the case is special or unique.”

            Tetsu looked over his mother’s thighs to his grandmother. “Mama has forgotten more about hanyous than most youkai doctors ever learn in medical school.”

            “Ah,” Mama answered.

            “Remember that pig-youkai hanyou that came in with an infection and got so sick in the hospital?” he reminded her. “No one knew what was wrong with him and he wasn’t responding to treatment. Everyone thought he was going to die, but then you realized he needed low-sodium fluids because he didn’t have sweat glands so he couldn’t sweat out the salt the way a human could. No one else even thought about that but it was so simple.”

            Kagome blushed but her son just beamed with pride.

            “My daughter the doctor,” Mama said happily.

            “Semi-retired doctor,” she corrected.

            “Still, I’m glad that you followed a career. I always wanted you to make something of yourself and be happy.”

            She shrugged. “I kinda fell into the hanyou pediatrics because I had so many. Soon people realized that I knew more about hanyous and their unique problems than just about anyone else. I liked being a doctor, but I liked being a mother more. After 1785, we didn’t get anymore hanyous because the ones that were being born were planned and prized, and I really missed having children. Tetsu was our last one, and I don’t think we even would have gotten him if his dragon family had known about it.”

            Tetsu gave her an adoring smile and rested his chin on her knee. “I’m glad they didn’t. I don’t think I could have asked for a better mom.” He stroked her abdomen with his free hand, making sure he didn’t touch her with his claws and spoke to his unborn sibling, “Mama’s the best mom. You’re so lucky.”

            Suddenly the baby kicked and she could tell that Tetsu felt it because he broke out into a grin.

            “Well, hello in there. I’m your brother Tetsukazu, but you can call me Tet…” he said, bringing his other hand up to cup her abdomen on both sides, letting go of Jyu-shi-Kenshuga in the process.

            “Tetsu, no!” she cried, but it was already too late.

            She saw the Sight come upon him, saw his eyes roll back into his head as a low groan escaped his lips.

            “Tetsu!!”

            Inuyasha was there in a heartbeat, pulling her youngest away and shoving the hilt of the sealing sword into his hand. Tetsukazu hit the ground and rolled, hugging the sword to his chest and shaking.

             _‘What did he See?’_  she thought, terrified.

            It took several long moments before he stopped trembling, and a small crowd had gathered. Her daughter Izayoi, who had formed a particularly close bond with Tetsu, knelt beside him and talked him through it while his father further pressed Jyu-shi-Kenshuga against him, all the while muttering curses under his breath. When he finally uncurled himself, he looked shattered and shell-shocked.

            “Tetsu? Are you alright, honey?” she pleaded.

            His violet eyes fell on her and she saw them dilate for a moment before his expression closed off.

            “Yes, Mama. I’m fine. It’s just that birth is a… traumatic experience.”

_‘He Saw the baby being born. Oh…’_

            “Oi, was that all you Saw, pup?” Inuyasha asked, his eyes narrowed.

            She watched her son swallow under her mate’s scrutiny and knew he was choosing his words carefully. “Yes, Papa. I Saw the baby being born.”

            “And was it… was it born alive?” Inuyasha asked leadingly.

            She shook her head slightly, not wanting to know, but Tetsu would never refuse to answer a question put to him by his father.

            “Yes, Papa.”

            Inuyasha looked at her, his face an expression of pure joy.

            “Thanks, pup. That’s all we needed to know.”

            Izayoi helped Tetsu get to his feet, but he still seemed a little shaky and he was still holding his sword close to his body in a death grip. Izayoi was looking very concerned.

            “Tetsu,” she whispered.

            “I’m fine Izzy. I’ll be fine.”

            “Why don’t you come over here by Goshinboku and lie down to rest for a little bit?”

            Kagome saw Tetsu nod, and his sister led him away. She frowned. Tetsu would never lie about his visions, but something told her that he wasn’t telling the whole truth. Part of her was curious and intrigued, but the rest of her still did not want to know. She was brought out of her thoughts by Inuyasha kissing her, then kissing her belly.

            “Alive, Kagome. Our pup is born alive,” he said.

            Yes, Tetsu had insisted that he’d Seen the baby born alive, and that was welcome news indeed. Still she could have lived without the sudden panic and upset that had flooded through her when she saw him huddled on the ground. The adrenaline rush had left her worn out.

            “Okaa-san, are you sure you’re alright?” Yukio asked her.

            “I am a little tired,” she admitted.

            Inuyasha huffed and looked at her critically. “Why didn’t you say something? Didn’t you promise me that you were going to take it easy and not overtax yourself?”

            She shrugged. “I just noticed it.”

            He sighed and reached down to take her arm. “Here. Why don’t you go upstairs to your old room and lie down for a while? This party’s far from over. The band hasn’t even started its second set yet. You can take a nap and still not miss anything, okay?”

            “Is it okay, Mama?” she asked.

            Mama nodded. “Of course, dear. Go on, you need your rest.”

            “O…okay.”

            She let Inuyasha help her to her feet, her back suddenly aching and her body exhausted.

             _‘God I hurt all over. I knew pregnancy was no picnic, but I had no idea it was so uncomfortable.’_

            “Kagome?” her mate questioned, sensing her discomfort.

            “My back hurts,” she said as she toddled slowly towards the house.

            “Hmm, maybe I can do something about that,” he offered with a tender smile.

            She gave him a grateful look. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”  _‘How I love this man.’_

            Both he and Yukio flanked her up the stairs and escorted her to her old room.

            “It still smells like us,” Yukio told them. “I was in here earlier to change clothes. Your scents are still on the bed and my pup scent is still in the crib.”

            Inuyasha nodded as she opened the bedroom door and paused in the doorway.

_‘My room. My old room.’_

            Everything was just as she had left it, right down to the teddy bear on her pillow and the plushy toy in the crib. She gave a deep sigh of relief and headed right for the bed as Inuyasha took a deep sniff and nodded.

            “He’s right. It does still smell like us,” he confirmed.

            “Mmmm, that’s so odd.”

            “I’m going to go back down and make explanations if anyone asks,” Yukio said.

            “Okay. I’m going to stay up here with your mother. At least until she’s asleep.”

            Yukio gave them a nod and left the room, closing the door behind him.

            “Here, lie down,” Inuyasha told her softly and helped her lower herself to the mattress.

            She positioned herself on her side, facing the room and he sat next to her, leaning over to rub the small of her back in little comforting circles.

            “How’s that?”

            “Mmmmm. Good.”

            “Yeah, but I know what makes it feel even better,” he added huskily.

            He was hiking up her dress before she could even say another word, and his fingers were lowering her panties carefully. Then his tongue touched her secret spot and all thoughts of pain and discomfort left her completely.

            “Ah, Inuyasha... Don’t… don’t neglect yourself…” she panted as he licked her. “We… we haven’t been able to be with each other in weeks...”

            “I’m fine,” she heard his soft whisper from between her thighs.

            “No… if… if you… come up here I can…”

            “You’re too tired, koi. It’s alright.”

            “It’s not... It’s... let me...”

            “Shhhh,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her sensitive place as he began to love her with his fingers and tongue. “Let me take care of you koishii. Let me make your pain go away.”

            “Ahhhhhh, Inu-y-a-a-a-s-s-h-h-h-a-a-a-a...”  _‘God, he is so **good**  at this....’_

            “Hand me some tissues please, koi?”

            She came out of her pleasure-filled haze long enough to do as he asked and wrenched a wad of tissues from the box next to her bed.  
            “Wh-what are you... doing?” she gasped as he returned his attention to the task at hand.

            “Something I’ve gotten very good at, koi,” he answered between strokes to her heated flesh. “All those times I had to come in a cup in some doctor’s office. I’m an old hand at this.”

            “You... you’re...”

            “Shhhh. At least this time I have you right here to stimulate my imagination. All those times it was just me and a dirty magazine... half the time I wanted to ask for a copy of Dog Fancy just because I was so bored.”

            She chuckled then groaned as he started up again, faster this time, more determined.

            “Dog Fancy... Oh to be a fly... on the wall...”

            “If you’re still talking, then I must be doing something wrong, koi. The only thing you should be capable of doing is moaning my name.”

            “I-n-n-n-n-u-u-u-u-u-u-y-a-a-a-a-a-s-s-s-s-s-h-h-h-h-h-a-a-a-a-a-a-a...”

            “Just like that.”

            He brought her to climax and she heard his little grunt of completion so she knew he’d joined her in the last moment. In the aftermath of her orgasm, her back pain dulled to a low ache and a heady sense of lethargy came over her.

            “Ooohhh, Inuyasha...”

            “Shhh, koishii. Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake. Just sleep,” he told her, kissing her sweetly. His lips still tasted of her.

            “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome, koi. Anytime. You know it. I love pleasing you.”

            “Me too. Love you.”

            “I love you too, koi. Sleep now.”

            “Mmmph.”

            The last thing she felt before sleep claimed her was his lips kissing her temple tenderly.

 

*********

 

            Yukio checked his watch. It had been an hour and his father was nowhere to be seen.

 _‘Hmm, still in with Okaa-san,’_  he sighed to himself.  _‘Mate guarding again. I can just see him sitting there with his back against the mattress and Tessaiga in his lap.’_

            A new scent tickled his nose and he was growling before he could stop himself. Whipping around to face the entrance of the shrine, he watched as his brother Ryoukan arrived, right on time after dinner. It wasn’t the wolf-hanyou that made his hackles stand on end and his body vibrate with irritation, however, but the two full blooded wolf-youkais who accompanied him. Well, one of them.

_‘Kouga. Ryoukan brought Kouga. Otou-san is going to go through the roof.’_

            The wolf-youkai and his mate sniffed around and homed in on him immediately.

            ‘ _Shit_ ,’ he thought, bristling but standing his ground. The wolf had once tried to take his mother away, and learned a very painful lesson in the process. He was once Inuyasha’s chief rival for his mother’s affections, and the two still had a mutually antagonistic relationship.

            “Yukio,” Ryoukan greeted, offering a brief hug.

            Yukio hugged him then stepped back, taking in his brother’s casual jeans and long-sleeved shirt. The two looked much like each other. Both were half-transformed with animal ears on their heads and claws for nails, but where Yukio’s hair was silver, Ryoukan’s was black as were his lupine ears.

            “You look well,” Ryoukan said formally. He was always formal and reserved, even around his family.

_‘He never really fit in. Mom and Dad hated sending him away but they did the right thing. From all accounts, he’s much happier with the wolf pack.’_

            “You too, Ryoukan. How’ve you been?”

            “Fairly well. I just returned from a trip to Scandinavia. We’re opening up a new office there.”

            He nodded. Ryoukan had followed in Kouga’s footsteps and become an investment banker specializing in ‘acquisitions.’ The job suited his predatory nature, but his ruthless tactics often made his parents shudder. Ryoukan still had no love for humans and cared little for their fates in a merger.

            “Where’s Mother?”

            “Sleeping. She gets tired easily so she went down for a nap.”

            “Heh, is dog-turd with her?” Kouga asked.

            Ayame slapped her mate. “Be nice, dear.”

            He glared at the wolf-lord. “Yes, my father is with her. He’s been… extremely protective of her lately,” he replied, putting emphasis on the word ‘protective.’

             “As well he should be. Kagome always found trouble wherever she could. Now that she’s breeding, I’m surprised he didn’t lock her in a room for her own good.”

            He looked to his brother, one eyebrow raised. “You told them about Mom’s pregnancy?”

            Ryoukan shrugged. “You didn’t tell me I couldn’t.”

            “True. Still, we wanted to keep things quiet until after the pup was born to keep down the number of non-family members sniffing around. Dad has been really uptight and he doesn’t want a lot of strangers coming to see Mom.”

            Kouga slapped him on the arm and gave him a wolfish grin, making him grit his teeth.

            “Heh, pup. We’re not strangers. We’re practically family.”

             _‘You will never be pack, you stinking wolf…’_  he thought, but swallowed his anger and held his tongue.

            “I’ll go see if Mom is going to be coming down soon. In the meantime, there’s lots to drink and I think there’s still plenty of desserts left.”

            Ryoukan crinkled his nose. “Human food.”

            Yukio just shrugged and gave his brother a tolerant look. ‘ _All those years Otou-san would bring him raw rabbits and fish, and Okaa-san would turn green having to watch him eat them.’_

            “I’ll be back soon,” he said, heading for the house.

            He found his parents in exactly the positions he’d imagined. His mother was asleep on the bed, curled on her side, and his father was seated on the floor beside her, back to the mattress and Tessaiga resting against his shoulder. He gave Inuyasha a smile that quickly turned into a frown when smelled the room.

_‘I don’t believe it…’_

            “What have you been doing to my mother?” he demanded, snarling as he slammed the door closed behind him.

            The noise woke Kagome and her eyes shot open in alarm.

            “Can’t you keep it in your pants for one fucking day?” he seethed, advancing on his father.

            “Yukio,” his mother said softly, but her tone was a warning. He ignored it.

            “She’s exhausted for fuck’s sake! You’re so fucking protective of her that you won’t let her walk ten feet without you, yet you’ll wipe her out further by rutting on her like some mindless dog!”   

            A growl began to build deep in the back of his father’s throat, but he was too angry to pay any attention.

             _‘How could you be so selfish? How could you endanger her and the pup with your petty base needs?’_

            “How could you be so selfish?! After everything the two of you have been through to get this far, how could you risk her health and safety, and the pup’s health and safety, for the sake of a quick fuck?!”

            The hand that grabbed him by the throat whipped out so quickly he didn’t even see it coming. All he knew was that suddenly his father’s enraged face was a breath away from his and claws were pressing dangerously into the soft flesh of his neck.

            “Do not even hint that I would intentionally and willfully cause harm to my mate or my unborn pup,” Inuyasha snarled, baring his teeth.

            He clenched his jaw and stared his father down, and the longer he refused to submit the tighter Inuyasha’s hand gripped him until he was being practically lifted off of his feet. He flicked his eyes briefly to his mother to gauge her reaction to what was happening. She was still lying on her side, watching them. Her face was concerned but she was otherwise calm. That meant two things: 1) she trusted Inuyasha not to harm him, and 2) he was in the wrong. His mother had no reservations about siding with him against his father if she thought his cause was justified, but when she sided with her mate, that meant she believed that Inuyasha was in the right. That above all else was what made him submit. He trusted his mother and if she thought he was wrong, then he was wrong.

            Growling, he turned his head and flashed his throat in submission. He was immediately released and he rubbed the sore places where his father’s fingers had dug into his skin.

_‘I’ll probably bruise…’_

            “Good. For a moment there, I was actually worried that you were going to try to challenge me,” his father said, his voice hard and full of threat.

            “I am only interested in the well-being of my mother,” he replied.

            “That makes two of us. Don’t pretend to know what we are doing or why. It’s none of your business what goes on between us when we are behind closed doors.”

            Another sniff revealed that his initial assumptions had indeed been wrong and if he’d bothered to keep his temper in the first place, he would have thought to track the semen scent, and he would have found it in the waste basket and not on his mother.

_‘Shit, I jumped to conclusions…’_

            “I’m sorry. I walked in and I smelled the scent. I just assumed…”

            “You assumed  ** _wrong_** , pup.”

            He winced. Inuyasha never called him pup outside of inu-youkai unless he was really angry.

            “I realize that now,” he admitted.

            “Good, now that we’ve settled that you wanna tell me why you came barging in here in the first place? You knew your mother was sleeping.”

            “Ryoukan is here,” he answered.

            “I already knew that. His scent is all over you.”

            “He brought Kouga and Ayame with him.”

            Inuyasha’s eyes darkened and he began to growl. “What did he bring that stinking wolf here for?”

            “Apparently he told them about Okaa-san’s pregnancy.”

            “Shit.”

            “My thoughts exactly.”

            “Alright, you stay with your mother.  ** _I’ll_**  go deal with the wolf.”

            “Don’t be rude and mean to Kouga, Inuyasha,” Kagome reminded.

            Inuyasha snorted. “I won’t kill him. Or start a fight. Or do any damage to your grandfather’s shrine,” he promised when Kagome fixed him with an incredulous look.

            “And don’t chase them away before I get a chance to see Ryou. I see him so rarely…”

            “Understood.”

            “I’ll be down shortly.”

            “I wish you’d stay in bed. You haven’t gotten enough rest. If I thought he’d do it, I’d tell him to come up here, but I doubt I could get him to set foot in the house,” his father sighed.

            “I agree. He hasn’t gone into a human dwelling other than our home since we sent him to live with the wolf tribe,” she confirmed.

            “For what it’s worth, he looks good. He told me he just got back from Scandinavia,” Yukio offered.

            Inuyasha gave him a short nod and turned for the door, hooking Tessaiga back into the loop on his waistband. “Look after your mother,” he said.

            “You know I will.”

            His father didn’t reply as he walked out of the room. When the door closed, he flattened his ears and went to make reparations to his mother. He knelt next to her as she struggled to sit up and nuzzled under her chin in submission.

            :Sorry. Sorry.:

            She responded with a sigh and a tender rub to his ears. :Forgiven. Impulsive pup.:

            “I know.”

            “You hurt him more than you realize,” she told him, lying back down again. Apparently she was still too tired to get up. “We haven’t been making love because the doctor advised against it due to my history of miscarriages, and the past few weeks have been very difficult for him.”

            Yukio nodded sadly. “I guessed that when I stopped walking in on you so much. I used to interrupt you at least once every couple of weeks, but recently you’ve been napping and he’s been out back chopping wood.”

            She chuckled softly. “I think we have enough firewood to last us the winter already and it’s just June.”

            “And you’ve replaced all but one of the wood fireplaces with gas ones,” he reminded.

            “He’s so offended when all of his hard work gathering and splitting wood is replaced by the simple flip of a switch.”

            He snickered. “Can’t take away his primary method for venting frustration, can we.”

            She winced and rolled to her back. “That wouldn’t be a good idea, no.”

            “Are you alright, Okaa-san?”

            “Yeah, it’s just my back. The latest ultrasound showed this kid likes to use my spine as a backboard. It’s putting a good deal of pressure on my lumbar vertebrae.”

            He moved to sit on the bed beside her.

            “Is there anything I can do?”

            “Not really. Your father knows what helps the pain. What we did here earlier is part of it.”

            He drooped his ears. “Oh.”

            His parents had always been very open and frank with him about their sex life; his father more so than his mother, but she had been relaxing about the subject in recent years. Gods knew he’d intruded upon them enough times when they were making creative use of the public rooms in their house. After a while it was just taken as the norm. His parents had been made immortal at the height of young sexuality, and they didn’t seem to be slowing down any with the passing centuries.

            He would never forget the  ** _one_**  time they had walked in on him and Miaka. His father had cackled about it for weeks and offered suggestions on improving his technique. Poor Miaka had been mortified until Kagome had taken her aside and smoothed things over. Still, from that day forward Miaka refused to do anything sexual whenever they were visiting his parents’ house.

             _‘We had good times though. Even in the later years when her passion for me waned because she was old. She never refused a cuddle, even if she couldn’t offer me anything more than that.’_

            Kagome’s hand brushing against his arm brought him out of his memories and he raised his eyes to smile softly at her. She had a knowing look on her face, as if she knew where his mind had been.

            “Almost 40 years and I still miss her,” he admitted.

            She nodded. “Inu-youkai mate for life.”

            He bowed his head. “I... I keep thinking that she would have kept on living if she hadn’t refused the infusion of my blood.”

            His mother frowned, but said nothing. In truth she had very little to say about Miaka’s death, and none of what she did have to say was good. Towards the end, she’d had a different opinion of his mate than she had previously held. To her, her mate was everything and she needed nothing else. Inuyasha was her alpha and omega just as he was hers, and she would never dream of leaving him- not even for Death.

            Miaka was different. His hanyou blood had sustained her for over 200 years, but he could see she was getting tired and the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Japanhad sealed her fate. They’d known it was coming, and that there was nothing they could do to stop it. Even Uncle admitted defeat in the face of history and fled Japan with his family before 1930. Miaka, however, refused to leave her homeland no matter how much he begged and pleaded.

            He couldn’t understand. He loved Japan , but he loved his mate more. She was his country, his motherland and sovereignty. Wherever she was was home to him, whether it was in Japan or France or Canada, and being with her was good enough for him. It was not so for Miaka. In 1935, he’d literally dragged her out of Japan by force before the majority of the aggression and fighting began, and in many ways she had never forgiven him.

            When the United States dropped the Atomic Bomb on Japan in 1945, something died in Miaka as well, and she refused the infusions of his blood that had kept her alive for so long. She’d lived for another seventeen years, but in those scant years she’d aged considerably. He’d watched it all, his heart breaking to see her dying before his very eyes and being helpless to stop it. He might have forced her from her homeland, but he would never have dreamed of forcing his blood upon her.

            Of course  ** _now_**  he knew that she’d been clinically depressed and probably would have responded to treatment if there had been any at the time. But back then who knew? Everyone blamed a woman’s moods on ‘female problems’ and left it at that. His mother knew better and had once tried to tell him about it, but after he’d taken Miaka from Japan, she’d become so paranoid about Kagome ‘meddling’ in their marriage, that she threw fits every time Yukio mentioned her. As a result, Yukio made a choice he never thought he’d have to make: his mother or his mate, and with his mother’s blessing, he chose his mate. He didn’t see Kagome for more than ten years, although he did talk to her on the phone, unbeknownst to Miaka, and he did see his father at least twice a year when he would go on a “business trip” which was actually a trip to Denver. Inuyasha would come down from Alberta to meet with him and they would visit for a couple of days.

            Kagome never joined his father on those trips for a number of reasons. The first was that she was still practicing medicine and was in high demand within the youkai and hanyou worlds. She had a private office in Calgary where she saw patients and also traveled all over North America to treat sick hanyou children. The second reason was that she felt Yukio was stretching the truth about his trips enough as it was and she didn’t want him to have to outright lie to Miaka. If she didn’t come, then he could honestly say that he hadn’t ‘seen’ her.

            Kagome knew what Miaka had done, and knew that she was choosing to die rather than live and stay with her son. She had heard Miaka’s arguments about not wanting to live in a world where thousands were slaughtered on a whim and weapons could murder millions in a single strike. She had countered them with tales of the late 1900’s, of how the world was better and there was peace and prosperity in Japan. But Miaka would have none of her arguments, and Kagome was forced sit idly by while her son suffered through the agony of witnessing his mate die. She was furious with the woman for not loving her son enough to live for him, for leaving him bereft and alone, and he knew she had never forgiven Miaka for the pain she had caused him or how difficult she had made life for him in the last decades of her life.  

            After her death in 1962, he’d moved back in with his parents and spent the next decade crying. His parents allowed this, even when his siblings would tell him to ‘snap out of it.’ All they would say was, “Leave your brother alone.” whenever one of his sibs pushed too hard or criticized him too harshly. They knew all too well what it felt like to lose someone close to them and they didn’t begrudge him his grief. In fact, they’d buried their daughter Takako in 1949 and their grief was still fresh when everything was happening with Miaka and him.

            They had been remarkably accommodating of his temper and moods. The only thing they ever insisted on was that he not take his anger out on them, and he did his best to comply. In response, he had received the wealth of their comfort and love to help him through his mourning; giving him just about anything he wanted. They drew the line at allowing him to sleep with them as he had done as a child, but Kagome would often make herself available to him and his father often found them snuggled in a hammock together in the backyard, her arms around him as he let the steady cadence of her heartbeat lull him to dreamless, nightmare-less sleep.

            He lived the next twenty or so years in a kind of grief-tainted haze. He went to work for his father, assisting in the acquisition of more assets and real estate, rendering some of his father’s drawings into formal drafts, and overseeing some of the rental properties they owned. He greeted each day, did his job and tried to recover from the blow Fate had dealt him, but there was a huge hole in his soul where his mate had once been and he felt hollow and empty without her.

            Then in 1979 they heard about a new technique in the treatment of infertility called in vitro fertilization. It was a new method being pioneered in England at the time and showed much promise. Years ago, they had determined that Inuyasha’s problem lay with low sperm count and motility issues, but there had been no recourse until then. Youkai embryologists and gynecologists seized upon the new technology and worked on retro-fitting it for youkai purposes because infertility was a much more serious problem in youkai than it was in humans, with several lines facing extinction if progeny were not produced. By 1985 they were ready to start experimenting.

            His parents had been one of the first in line.      

            The first time his parents announced that they were pregnant, there had been much excitement and joy in the family. Everyone was notified and preparations were joyfully made as they eagerly anticipated the arrival of their new sibling. Then Kagome had miscarried and the world had ended. He vividly remembered coming home from work one afternoon to find his mother standing in the doorway of the nursery Inuyasha had designed for the new pup. She’d been clutching a little white stuffed dog she’d bought as a joke on one of their extravagant baby shopping trips. The late afternoon sunlight was pouring through the open windows of the room and spilling out into the hallway where she stood holding the toy close to her chest. The light had bathed her in gold that shimmered with the waving shadows of the trees outside, and he’d stopped to stare at the almost heavenly vision of his mother illuminated by the soft light. Then she’d looked his way and he saw her face. He would never forget that shattered face for as long as he lived.

            From that day on he’d pulled himself out of his own pain and suffering, and dedicated himself to helping his parents weather the coming storms. His mother needed him and her pain gave him something to focus on outside of himself. Over the next fifteen years, he would ride the roller coaster of expectation and disappointment with them, a third witness to what they went through and the trials they endured to have a pup.

            After the second miscarriage he’d started asking why. Why did they do it? Why did they put themselves through the heartache and pain only to lose the pup before the 5th month? His father would only reply that Kagome wanted a pup. She missed being a mother and there were no hanyou orphans up for adoption anymore. If they wanted a new pup, they had to have one themselves and Inuyasha was willing to go through it if it would make her happy.

            Looking at her now, he had to agree that, although she was having a very difficult pregnancy and his father was a nervous wreck half the time, their overall mood was joyful, and there was a contented light shining in his mother’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. He smiled at her and nuzzled her to chase the frown from her face.

            “But I’ll have a new little brother or sister to shower affection on soon enough,” he said, changing the subject. “I’ll be Aniki again.”

            She smiled back. “You’re still Aniki.”

            “I know,but they’re all grown up. There’s no one to play with anymore.”

            She slapped him lightly. “You get this pup hooked on motorcycles and I’ll castrate you myself.”

            He gave her a wide-eyed look and made the motion of skittering away from her, protecting his crotch. She laughed and sat up.

            “I should go down to see Ryoukan. If I wait too long, it will be too late,” she said, swinging her legs off of the bed.

            He was there immediately to help her to her feet. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

            She sighed and rolled her eyes. “ ** _Yes_**. I’m pregnant, not terminal.”

            He kept one hand under her elbow to steady her as she made her way to the door.

            “I have to go to the bathroom.  ** _Again_**.”

            He chuckled. “Yes, but at least it isn’t to throw up like you used to do.”

            “That’s funny. Your father said the same thing.”

            He waited until she was finished in the bathroom then helped her down the stairs and back out to the reunion. She was swamped immediately by at least four of his siblings inquiring about her, and his father came tearing over to glower and stake his claim before Kouga could get to her. He snickered and shook his head at his father’s antics, even if he agreed that his mother was better off being kept a hundred kilometers away from the wolf-youkai.

            Things reached a bit of a head and his mother got angry with Inuyasha for being so overbearing. She almost,  ** _almost_**  sat him in front of Kouga but he acquiesced at the last minute and avoided punishment. He stood and fumed silently, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Kagome walk a short distance away from him to visit with Ryoukan, Kouga and Ayame.

             _‘I guess now’s a good time to go make up,’_  he thought.

            He approached his seething father from the left, keeping his ears and chin down in submission. When he was a half a meter or so away, he stopped and waited to be acknowledged. Inuyasha cast a brief glance at him, then lifted his chin slightly and turned his head away.

_‘There. He’s given me the opening...’_

            Closing the distance between them, he licked his father’s chin and gave a soft whine of apology. :Sorry. Sorry. Pup stupid.:

            Inuyasha sighed and turned his head to nuzzle him briefly.

            :Forgiven.:

            :Leader-male,: he confirmed, making sure his father knew he wasn’t being challenged.

            :Beta-male,: Inuyasha replied, reaffirming his firstborn’s place in the pack.

            It was an attribute of dogs and inu-youkai that once the proper reparations were made, all was well within the pack again. He’d displeased the pack leader, but now that he’d groveled and shown his contrition, he’d been forgiven and accepted. He now stood at his father’s right shoulder, mimicking Inuyasha’s crossed-arm stance as they both watched Kagome with the wolves.

            Inuyasha crinkled his nose. “They still stink,” he complained.

            Yukio nodded. “But she hasn’t seen Ryou in three years. We should let her have her visit without the pissing contest.”

            “Feh, maybe I  ** _should_**  start marking territory. The smell might actually keep that wimpy wolf away.”

            “If you start pissing on trees, you know Okaa-san will sit you until you make a crater the size of China in the ground.”

            “Yeah, but if it would make him go away...”

            “Don’t do it. She’ll make you suffer. Besides he’s no match for us and you know it. If Kouga so much as touches her inappropriately, we’ll take him down so fast he won’t know what hit him.”

            “If he  ** _looks_**  at her funny,” Inuyasha corrected.

            “Deal.”

            As it turned out, Ryoukan only stayed long enough to visit with his mother for a couple of hours, then he left, taking Kouga and Ayame with him, much to his father’s relief. Once the wolves were gone, his mother went to lie down again. They were getting her settled in her bed when there was a scratch and plaintive mew at the bedroom door. Yukio opened the door and Buyo came waddling in, meowing.

            “Buyo,” Kagome said as the cat came over to her and hopped up on the bed, purring.

            “I was wondering where you were. I missed you so.”

            Buyo mewed again then shimmered, her shape altering until the kitten form of Kirara sat in her place.

            “Kirara!!” Kagome gasped.

            The firecat mewed happily and rubbed up against Kagome’s hand.

            “Is  ** _this_**  where you’ve been all these years? We lost track of you after Kaemon died. We had no idea where you’d gone! We were so worried!”

            Kirara mewed and purred. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and saw that he didn’t look particularly surprised.

            “You knew Buyo was Kirara?” she asked.

            Inuyasha shook his head. “I had my suspicions. Every now and then I’d feel a hint of youki off that cat, and after we found out that the Higurashis were the descendants of Sango and Miroku, it made sense that she’d stay to protect them. She was also the only cat that never ripped me to shreds no matter how much I teased her.”

            Kagome hugged the firecat. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

            Kirara mewed her agreement and flicked her tails.

            “But wait that means it was  ** _you_**  who led me down to the well that day!  ** _You’re_**  the one responsible for me going into the well house! You already knew what was going to happen!”

            Kirara nodded and mewed again.

            “You sneaky little...”

            “Okaa-san, if she hadn’t led you then the well would never have opened and you would never have met Otou-san,” Yukio reminded, trying to calm Kagome down before she went into one of her snits.

            His mother blinked, then softened and hugged the firecat again.

            “You’re right. Thank you, Kirara.”

            Kirara closed her eyes and purred her contentment.

            “You should get some rest, koi,” Inuyasha told her, kissing her brow. Then he patted the firecat on the head and said, “We’ll talk later.”

            Kirara mewed and settled down at the foot of the bed as his father tucked his mother under her blanket.

            With Kirara there to guard his mother, Yukio managed to convince his father to leave her to her nap and come back to the reunion. There were a number of his sons who wanted to spend time with him, and soon they were sitting together at the end of the table catching up and discussing the latest new racing bike or car or sports team. Inuyasha was a proud supporter of a number of youth and amateur sports leagues in Alberta, including two hockey clubs and a curling club. His more metropolitan sons loved to tease him about the curling club. The hockey teams they could understand because it was violent and exciting, but Juzo, who now lived in Italy, referred to curling as ‘housework on ice’ and said it was about as ‘exciting as watching old men play bocchi ball.’ Many of the others agreed, but Inuyasha just laughed and said they didn’t understand the complexities and draw of watching four grown men with brooms try to steer a hunk of rock across a sheet of ice without touching it.

            His mother slept for about three hours then rejoined them. She looked much better and much more rested after her nap, and she was in good spirits. She even managed to convince Inuyasha to dance with her a little bit, although Yukio was the better dancer. He grabbed his grandmother and pulled her onto the portable dance floor the band had brought, guiding her through the steps of a simplified cha-cha as she laughed and blushed at his antics.

            The party lasted until well after dark with the shrine lit up with strings of paper lanterns in multiple colors, and the atmosphere was lively and festive. Eri was right and a few nosy photographers showed up to take pictures, but since there was no violence, drugs, or wild behavior she doubted any of the photographs would be published anywhere. Besides with the Spell of Normalcy none of the pictures would show anything out of the ordinary. Uncle got rid of them with his usual efficiency, threatening them with retribution and the legal resources of his empire. Very few people were stupid enough to go up against Sesshou Nishitaishou, and the photographers left quickly after taking only a few snapshots.

            Just before midnight the band finished its last set, and they rounded off the evening with a small fireworks display. After the show, the reunion began to disband as his siblings bid their goodnights and headed off to their hotels or homes. Many of them were staying in Japan for at least a week, and would be popping in on their parents to visit individually over the next few days.

            Yukio found himself too wound up to sit on the train back to Osaka and decided to wait until morning. The delay gave him an idea and he cleared it first with his grandmother before approaching his young uncle.

            “Hey Souta-ojisan!” he called, catching the bleary-eyed teen’s attention.

            “Yeah,  ** _nephew_**?” the boy replied teasingly.

            “Wanna come to Osaka with me tomorrow and ride back on my bike?”

            Souta’s eyes opened wide and he turned to his mother. “Mama! Mama, can I?”

            Mama-baachan nodded. “Yes. It’s okay. Yukio’s promised he’ll keep you safe and Kagome says he is a good driver.”

            “Most of the time,” Kagome added, coming over to them. She was looking tired again, and Inuyasha was hovering near her, talking on his cell phone.

            “Yeah!!” Souta exclaimed, jumping up and down happily.

            “Bring him to Tokyo House tomorrow morning around eight. Miroku, can you give Mama-baachan the security code for the gate?”

            “Sure,” his brother said and scribbled the code on a napkin. “Here, Mama-baachan.”

            “Thank you, Miroku,” his grandmother replied, accepting the crinkled paper.

            “I’ve called a cab. It’ll be here soon,” Inuyasha announced, hanging up his cell phone.

            “I’ll ride the bike over and meet you there.”

            The last of the guests were leaving and it was almost time to go. Uncle and Aunt Rin came to say their goodnights.

            “Goodnight, Kagome,” Rin said, kissing Kagome on both cheeks. “You look wonderful. Please take care of yourself and congratulations.”

            “I will. Thank you.”

            “You will call when she goes into labor,” Uncle said to his father.

            Inuyasha snorted but waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get outta here already. We managed to get through a whole day without fighting. Let’s not ruin it.”

            “Come on, dear,” Aunt Rin giggled, tugging on the jacket sleeve of Uncle’s Christian Dior suit. She was the only one who could ever get away with touching the great taiyoukai in such a casual way.

            Uncle nodded to Kagome and followed his mate without protest or question, proving without a doubt that inu-youkai were matriarchal and it was the alpha-bitch who actually called the shots. Then again, all he had to do was look at his parents to know that.

            “I’ll take down the Spell of Normalcy, Mama,” Mariko offered.

            “Thank you, sweetheart, that would be wonderful.”

            Once the spell was dispersed and his sister Mariko gone, all that were left were himself, Eri, Miroku, his parents, his uncle Souta, Mama-baachan and Jii-chan.

            “Well, I’m outta here,” Eri announced, kissing her mother and father on the cheek. “I’ll be sticking around for a little while, I think. Call me when…”

            “When she goes into labor. Yes. We’ll add you to the list,” Yukio sighed.

            “It was good to see you Eri. We hadn’t heard from you in a while. We were worried,” Kagome admitted.

            “I’m sorry, Mama. I promise I’ll be more conscientious about checking my voicemail.”

            “Be careful,” was all his father said to her, but it was enough.

            She gave them both a final smile, put on the bracelet that anchored her concealment spell, then waved goodnight and was gone.

            “The cab should be here,” Inuyasha said, ushering Kagome towards the stairs.

            “Goodnight, Mama,” his mother said, hugging his grandmother. “Goodnight, Jii-chan. It’s so good to see you and be back.”

            Kirara mewed and rubbed her leg.

            “Goodnight Kirara.”

            “I still can’t believe our family cat is a youkai,” Mama-baachan mused. “We’ve had Buyo for years and never knew. Some things make a lot more sense though. I always thought that cat was smarter than she ought to be.”

            Kirara mewed an assent and sat at Mama-baachan’s feet.

            “We’ll see you in the morning,” Inuyasha said, urging Kagome a little more insistently.

            “Goodnight Kagome, Inuyasha,” Mama-baachan said, kissing both of them on the cheek and making his father blush.

            “Hey, do I get a kiss?” he asked with a wink and his grandmother kissed him too.

            “Goodnight, Yukio. We’ll see you in the morning.”

            “Eight o’clock!” Souta enthused.

            “You bet. See you then, ojisan.”

            He and his father put on their signet rings and activated their spells, then he walked down the stairs with his parents, flanking his mother on one side while his father flanked her on the other. He waited until they were in the cab with Miroku and leaving before he moved to get on his bike. At the last minute, he remembered the satchel with his leathers and ran back to get it, saying goodnight to his grandparents again.

            Back down on the street, he paused to look up at what few stars he could see through all of Tokyo's lght pollution and smiled. It had been a wonderful day.


	38. Chapter 38

Thirty-Eight

 

            Mama was awakened at 7:30 by Souta excitedly telling her to get up because they had to go over to Tokyo House before Yukio left for Osaka without him. Considering she hadn’t been able to get to sleep until almost 2am, she didn’t really appreciate being woken up after only 5½ hours of rest but there was nothing to be done for it. She scrambled to put on clothes, do something with her hair and find the napkin her grandson (one of her  ** _fourteen_** ) had scribbled the security code on before Souta dragged her out of the shrine and the scant two blocks to the front entrance of the Fushikenwa’s Tokyo property. The code worked and the tall gate swung silently open, and they were faced with the long, winding driveway that led back into the trees. All they could see of what appeared to be a  ** _very_**  large house were the spires on the roof.

            They were about to start walking when a small man driving a golf cart putted up to them.

            “Good morning, Higurashi-san. I’ve been instructed to take you up to the house,” the man said.

            Mama bowed and smiled with relief. “Thank you.”

            “Whee! Can I drive?” Souta enthused as he hopped into the seat next to the driver.

            “No,” both the man and Mama said in unison.

            Souta pouted but didn’t press the issue. Mama got into the rear bench of the golf cart and the driver putted them along the tree-lined driveway to the house. The trees were so tall and so dense that they soon could not see anything of Tokyo or hear the street noise.

            “It’s so green and beautiful,” Mama commented. “I never knew such a place still existed in Tokyo.”

            “Most don’t and we like it that way,” the driver said. “You have no idea of the kinds of barrier spells we have on this place to protect it, not to mention what we had to do to keep it from getting flattened when the Americans bombed Tokyo during the War.”

            His voice had changed a bit and she turned her head to see that he had altered his appearance. Instead of the small man there was now a lizard-like creature in his place wearing a polo shirt and a pair of Bermuda shorts.

             _‘Oh my. This is going to take some getting used to,’_  she thought. A quick glance at Souta revealed that he was looking a little stunned too.

            “What? You thought I was human?” the driver asked irritably. “Newsflash, kid. Pretty much anyone who works for a youkai family is either hanyou or youkai. Get used to it.”

            Souta gulped but didn’t say anything.

            The driver took them to the front entrance of a monstrous house that was more like a castle than anything else in its scale and grandeur. It had a wide sweeping front porch with the classic Japan ese roof and a huge wooden door. They got out of the golf cart and approached the house as the driver putted off somewhere, presumably to the garage. Going up to the massive wooden door with block carvings and giant metal bolts, she moved to knock when it swung open more silently than she thought physically possible.

            “Oh…”

            Inuyasha stood leaning against the now open doorway, dressed in a cut-off gray muscle shirt and a pair of low riding gray sweatpants, revealing most of his flat stomach. He looked disheveled and yawned a bit as he blinked sleepily at them.

            “Morning,” he greeted, stepping back and allowing them to enter.

            They crossed the threshold into the magnificent dwelling and hastily removed their shoes. Inuyasha, in his typical fashion, was barefoot.

            “Sugoi! Sugoi!” Souta breathed, taking in the wide hallway and high ceilings.

            Inuyasha just shrugged. “You should see our house in Alberta. I built that one to look like a Northwestern hunting lodge. The front great room is nine meters high.”

            “You built it? Did you build this house too?” Souta asked, wide-eyed.

            He nodded. “I’ve built all the houses we’ve lived in. More or less. I designed them too.”

            “You design houses?” Mama questioned.

            “Yep. It’s what I do. I’m a whattdya call it… architect.”

            “An architect?!”

            “Mmm hmm. Kinda fell into it like Kagome fell into being a doctor. The Houjou clan saw the work I did on the first house I built Kagome and wanted me to build theirs. Then other daimyos wanted houses and it went from there. I have construction crews and clients all over the world.”

            “That’s wonderful, Inuyasha,” she said, although architect was not a career she would have imagined for him.

            “It’s nice. I like it.”

            “Do you design houses for youkais?” she asked.

            “Youkai, humans, hanyous. You name it. If it lives somewhere, I design it. I even designed a couple of animal habitats for zoos. Did one for Australia Zoo last year. That Crocodile Hunter guy is as crazy in person as he is on TV.”

            “Wow,” Souta enthused.

            Inuyasha led them to the huge eat-in kitchen and motioned for them to sit down.

            “Yukio’s already up. He’ll be down in a minute. Coffee?”

            “Yes, please. Thank you,” Mama replied.

            He went to the counter and stood in front of the cappuccino/coffee maker.

            “Now if I can just figure this damn thing out. Miroku, my ‘cosmopolitan’ son. Whatever the hell  ** _that_**  means. He doesn’t own a simple coffee maker. No, he owns this monstrosity. Why? Because he likes all that fru-fru coffee like latte, cappuccino and chai. Wanna tell me what the hell ‘chai’ is? Never heard of it,” he complained. “All I want is plain coffee without all that pansy-ass crap they put in it these days.”

            Mama giggled and went over to the machine. “Here, let me see if I can help. I’ve had some experience with these things, although never one quite like this.”

            She inspected the appliance and thought she knew how it worked. Inuyasha had the coffee already measured and in the unbleached filter, and he had the coffee carafe filled for eight cups. She experimented with a couple of levers and managed to get the top off to pour the water into the proper side for plain coffee, and pulled open an almost hidden door that revealed where the filter and grounds went. Beside her Inuyasha snorted but nodded in approval and within a few minutes the smell of fresh brewed Columbian Roast was wafting through the kitchen.

            “Ahhhhhhhh,” Yukio sighed as he breezed into the room dressed in jeans, a royal blue T-shirt and his riding leathers. “Coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. What? No espresso?”

            “If you want espresso go the Hell to Starbucks,” Inuyasha grumbled, sipping his own coffee.

            “Ooooohhh, testy. Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the den this morning?”

            “You’re assuming your mother let me sleep with her in the friggin’ den.”

            Yukio hugged his father. “Awwww, poor Otou-san. Did she make you sleep on the couch again?”

            Inuyasha just growled.

            Her grandson turned to her and flashed her a brilliant smile. “Good morning, Mama-baachan.”

            “Good morning, Yukio.”

            “Good morning, nephew,” Souta greeted.

            “Ojisan!” Yukio replied, giving the teen a hug. “You ready to go?”

            Souta nodded. “Yeah!”

            “Okay. Let me grab a cup of coffee and we’ll get going. We’ll catch the 9 o’clock bullet train to Osaka.”

            “Yay!”

            Yukio snickered and poured himself a cup of coffee.

            “I think there’s danishes in the breadbox,” Inuyasha offered.

            “Ooooo!” Yukio said, going to the breadbox and rolling back the door. “Yeah!”

            He pulled out two danishes and tossed one at Souta. “Want a danish?”

            The boy grabbed the pastry. “Thanks!”

            “Mama-baachan, danish? We’ve got cheese and raspberry.”

            The thought of eating a sugar-laden bread roll for breakfast made her stomach turn and she declined.

            “No thank you.”

            “Heh. Kagome won’t eat them for breakfast either. I’ve got miso and rice if you want it,” Inuyasha said.

            “That would be perfect.”

            Inuyasha moved to the refrigerator, pulled out the miso and rice, and set them to heat in the microwave.

            “Damn, I love these things. Best invention of the 20th century. When I was first here with Kagome and we were going through the well, I didn’t appreciate them, but when we had to wait for them to be invented, I  ** _really_**  missed it,” he admitted.

            Yukio scarfed his danish and knocked back his coffee, then grabbed another pastry from the breadbox and ate that too.

             _‘He’s got his father’s sweet tooth,’_  she thought.

            “Okay, ready,” he announced.

            “Me too,” Souta said, finishing off his danish.

            “Let’s go then. We’ll be back late this afternoon.”

            “Oi, Yukio!” Inuyasha called, halting Yukio in his tracks. “You take good care of that boy.”

            Yukio went over to his father and nuzzled him. “You know I will.”

            Then he came over to her and nuzzled her too, an odd little gesture that was part sniff and part caress with his nose. It tickled.

            “I promise to bring my ojisan back safely, Mama-baachan.”

            “Thank you, Yukio.”

            He smiled, gave her an open mouthed kiss on the cheek, and then he and Souta were gone with a set of careless ‘bye’s tossed over their shoulders and a couple of conspiratorial whispers. She heard the front door close a few moments later.

            “He will take good care of the boy,” Inuyasha assured her. “He’s even more family oriented than I am. He always looked after the littles when he was growing up. I was surprised when he and his mate didn’t adopt and raise a brood of their own.”

            She blinked at him. “Yukio is married?”

            Inuyasha sighed sadly. “He was. She’s dead now.”

            “Oh.”

            The microwave dinged and he took out the miso and rice, offering them to her with a set of chopsticks, a spoon and a refill of her coffee.

            “Thank you.”

            “It’s no big deal,” he replied, brushing it off as he put a bowl of water into the microwave to boil.

            Mama watched him as he went to a cabinet and opened it. She gasped when she saw that it was literally full of different flavors of ramen noodles. He selected three packages, ripped off their plastic covers and dumped them into one large bowl. Then he poured in the boiling water from the bowl he’d put in the microwave, sprinkled the flavor packages on top and mixed the whole thing together.

            Coming over to where she was sitting, he plopped down into the chair opposite her with his ramen and coffee and began eating. He paused when he saw her smiling at him, his hand to his lips and his mouth full of noodles.

            “What?” he asked testily.

            “You haven’t changed a bit,” she answered with a giggle.

            He shrugged. “Keh.”

            “You do look a little tired though. Did Kagome really make you sleep on the couch?”

            He shook his head. “It’s not like that. She’s… she’s uncomfortable and restless. Sometimes she moves around a lot and I’m just in her way. Some nights I can get away with sleeping at the foot of the bed, but other nights she just kicks me in the face and I’m better off moving to the floor.”

            Mama giggled again. “Well, it isn’t like you don’t deserve it. Her condition is all your fault, you know,” she teased.

            He smiled and she knew he’d gotten her joke, then his face grew serious.

            “She is having a hard time. Worse than the other times. It’s funny that the doctor actually thinks that’s a good thing.”

            “Well, if she’s getting morning sickness and pressure on the bladder and all of the other things that go along with a pregnancy that means things are proceeding as normal.”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “I suffered through it twice, although Souta was much worse than Kagome.”

            He snickered. “I keep telling Kagome the pup has to be a boy because a girl wouldn’t be so much trouble.”

            She laughed softly, then sobered and took a sip of her coffee. “I never miscarried though.”

            Inuyasha looked away, his ears down and his face sad. “Kagome’s had four.”

            “I know. She told me.”

            “After the third, I told her I wanted to stop. She’d carried that one almost to five months. I… I could even hear the pup’s heartbeat. We really thought that one was gonna make it. Then… then it died, and… and I found Kagome in the bathroom. There was so much blood…”

            Mama swallowed hard and blinked back tears as he recounted the tale. “That must have been terrible for you.”

            He nodded slowly. “I told her no more. I didn’t need a pup. I’d had nineteen sons and fourteen daughters; twenty-nine of which made it to adulthood and twenty-seven who were still alive. I didn’t need my own pup if it meant she had to go through all of that, and I couldn’t stand to see her suffer anymore, but she kept begging me to try again. After we lost the fourth one, I swore no more. Then this new drug came out and she said it was helping a lot of women stay pregnant. We had one more batch of frozen embryos and I’d already told her I wasn’t going to put her through the harvesting of another bunch of her eggs, so we had one more chance and she convinced me to take it.”

            “And are you glad you did?” Mama asked.

            He blinked at her. “Are you kidding? She’s made it to seven months. Even if the pup’s born now as long as it’s born breathing, chances are it’ll live. We didn’t tell anyone she was pregnant until she passed six months. Half my kids wanted to have my balls for keeping our mouths shut, but at least this way if she had lost another no one would have come for them for my ‘putting her through that’ a fifth time.” 

            She heard what he wasn’t saying and frowned. “Is that what some of them said to you? Did they accuse you of putting Kagome through that pain?”

            Inuyasha sighed and nodded. “One of them, yeah. Miroku.”

            “Miroku? He’s the one who lives here, right? He’s an inu-hanyou like you.”

            He nodded again. “Yeah. My last one. He’s been upset ever since Kagome and I started trying to have a pup. I don’t know what his problem is, or rather I do know what his problem is but I have no idea what to do about it.”

            “He’s concerned that a biological child will replace all of your adopted children in your eyes because it will be ‘yours.’ Am I right?”

            Inuyasha blinked at her for a few moments then nodded. “Yeah. Exactly.”

            “One of my best friends in school was adopted. When her mother got pregnant, she was very worried that she would be ‘replaced’ by the ‘natural’ child. It sounds like Miroku is worried about the same thing.”

            Inuyasha agreed.

            “Yeah. The thing is, it isn’t like he doesn’t have reason to believe that. His mother is one of my brother’s courtiers. She was having problems with her mate so she went out and found a human to breed with when she was in heat just to piss him off. Then she said the man raped her. Luckily my brother knows when humans are lying, and he could tell that the man was telling the truth when he said that she’d come on to him and practically forced  ** _him_**. Inu-youkai bitches in heat can be very… aggressive.

            “Sesshoumaru spared the man and refused to allow her to kill the unborn pup so her little plan to get back at her mate backfired right in her face. Instead she was told to give the pup to us when it was born. He hadn’t even taken his second breath outside of the womb when she dumped him into Kagome’s arms. To this day, she refuses to say his name or acknowledge him as her son in my brother’s court, and she takes every opportunity she can to flaunt her three full inu-youkai pups in his face,” he told her with a bitter smile.

            Mama gaspe d. “That… that’s horrible. Poor Miroku.”

            Inuyasha scowled. “I wanted to rend the bitch who told him who his mother was limb from limb. Then I wanted to rend  ** _her_**  limb from limb when she slapped him away from her and told him to never tell anyone she was his mother or she would kill him. He was only seven for God-sakes! He was just a little whelp and she knocked him back clear across the fucking room.”

            Tears welled in Mama’s eyes and she covered her mouth in horror. “The poor boy. What did you do?”

            “Me? I comforted my pup and left  ** _her_**  to my brother. We were living in Sesshoumaru’s house at the time and I couldn’t afford to jeopardize Kagome and the pups by starting a fight. Of course by then Sesshoumaru had mated Rin and they had a hanyou pup of their own. So by the time Sesshoumaru got through with  ** _her_**  she almost wished I  ** _had_**  gone after her because she and her mate lost all their standing in the court.”

            “Good for your brother. I would have done worse to her,” she said angrily.

            He paused and took a deep breath. “Miroku, though… he was never the same after that day. I… I don’t think a pup can ever really recover from rejection like that,” he admitted regretfully.

            “Kagome and I, we did our best to make sure he knew we loved and wanted him, but he wanted  ** _her_**  to acknowledge him and she never did. Then when we started trying to have a pup, it was like it triggered something in him. My psychologist pup, Asame, said he was ‘projecting’ or some such crap. He was taking all of his hatred and anger at his mother and putting it on us.”

            Mama nodded. “It’s not unusual for kids to do that. It’s almost like a test of your love for them. If you love them, then you will love them even when they hate you and hurt you.”

            Inuyasha rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. Something like that. And as I said, I do understand why he feels the way he does, but he’s getting worse and it’s really hurting Kagome. Last night in the cab on the way back here, he asked us if we wanted his room for the nursery since we would be staying here until after the pup is born.”

            “His room? Why would he think that?”

            “Because it’s the nicest bedroom with the most natural light. It used to be Kagome’s and my room when we lived here,” he answered.

            Mama nodded that she understood. “Ah, I see. So he thought you’d kick him out of his room and give it to the baby.”

            “I don’t know what he was thinking. I think he was just trying to pick a fight. It didn’t work, but Kagome got very upset which made the pup upset and that meant Kagome couldn’t sleep because the pup kept kicking her.”

            She smiled at him. “Which meant she was restless and uncomfortable, and there was nothing you could do to help her. Then you ended up sleeping on the floor because she couldn’t settle down.”

            He nodded, then frowned at his cold ramen. “Yeah, something like that.”

            He got up and took the bowl to the microwave to heat up the noodles. “Do you need me to warm your miso?”

            She looked down at her mostly untouched soup. She’d practically ignored it during her conversation with Inuyasha. He so rarely opened up and actually talked to her that she’d completely forgotten to eat.

            “No, it’s still warm, but thank you.”

            He gave a little grunt of acknowledgement and she took the opportunity to eat as much of it as she could before he returned to the table. This time she waited until he was finished eating before she spoke again.

            “So what are you going to do?” she asked.

            “Do?”

            “About Miroku.”

            He blinked. “Oh. Umm, I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to him at least. I can’t have Kagome upset like that. It’s bad for the pup and for her.”

            “But you know the moment you do that, he’ll think you’re just worried about the pup and don’t care about how he feels,” she pointed out.

            He nodded and sighed. “I know. But what else can I do. It’s a no win situation.”

            “Has Yukio spoken to him? Maybe he’ll listen to a sibling more than a parent.”

            Inuyasha shook his head. “So far Yukio hasn’t really been around when Miroku’s been upset. He wasn’t in the cab with us last night so he missed the bedroom bit, and I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to him about it without Kagome around. She doesn’t want us to make too much of a big deal out of it because she doesn’t want the pups to fight.”

            “And Yukio is so protective of his mother that he would fight if he thought she was threatened,” she observed.

            “Exactly. But I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid it. We’re all staying under one roof now so it’ll be harder to ignore.”

            “Where is Miroku now?”

            “At work. He’s a professor of Japanese history at Tokyo University.”

            Mama nodded in appreciation. “Very nice. I’m sure he’s an excellent teacher.”

            Inuyasha shrugged. “Being as he lived through most of the time period he teaches, it’s kinda easy for him. Now my civil engineer son, Takuma, his job is hard. He designs bridges and roadways for the government in Manitoba.”

            “A civil engineer. Impressive.”

            “All my pups do something. I have an actress, a couple of nurses, three doctors, a bunch of ‘businessmen’ which just means they deal in money, a singer, an oceanographer, a fashion designer, a pilot, a martial arts teacher, a veterinarian... I even have a daughter who’s a miko. She studies and teaches shamanism in Hawaii.”

            Mama smiled. “It sounds like you’re very proud of all of your children.”

            He beamed. “I am. Even the one who ‘races cars’ for a living.”

            “What does Yukio do?” she asked.

            “Aside from fix engines with me? Just about anything. He has four or five degrees. Mostly he helps me run my business. He’s a fair architect, but he’s a better drafter. I can give him a rough sketch and he’ll make the scaled drawings. He’s a little more creative than me too. His designs are fancier.”

            “So he works with you in Canada.”

            He nodded. “He has for the past thirty-five years or so. Since his wife died. Before that he had his own little investment business. Rental properties and stuff like that. But after Miaka died he sold it and moved in with us.”

            “He came home to Mom and Dad,” she mused with a soft smile.

            A flicker of sadness and even a little anger crossed Inuyasha’s face and Mama realized there was more to that story than he was telling.

            “Yeah. He always stuck close to us, or at least he tried to.”

            “I remember that he was very attached to you. It doesn’t look like he outgrew that.”

            Inuyasha shook his head. “No, he never did.”

            Suddenly his head came up and he sniffed, and she knew that his sharp senses had caught something.

            “Excuse me,” he said and left the kitchen without waiting for her answer.

             _‘Kagome must be awake,’_  she mused, sipping her tepid coffee.

             Sure enough Inuyasha returned a few moments later escorting a sleepy Kagome. Mama was glad she had already swallowed the coffee in her mouth otherwise she would have spit it all over the table when she laughed at what her daughter was wearing. Kagome was dressed in a dark blue terry cloth robe and a long red cotton nightgown that had a puppy face right where her swelling womb was and the words ‘Big Dog To Be’ in English. She also had a pair of fuzzy white dog slippers with ears, black eyes and noses on the toes.

            She lost her battle with laughter and chortled for several moments.

            “Morning, Mama,” Kagome greeted.

            “Good morning, Kagome.”

            Inuyasha sat his wife down at the table and Mama watched him fuss over her like a mother hen. He closed her robe and tied it with the belt, then zipped around the kitchen fetching Kagome a light breakfast of white rice, a small bowl of miso and a cup of green tea with mint. He did this all without direction or complaint, and soon Kagome was sipping her unsweetened tea and nibbling at her food.

            “How are you feeling? Did you get enough sleep?” he asked as he set the meal down in front of her.

            Her hand reached out to grasp his and gently squeeze.

            “I’m alright. Tired and sore from all the kickboxing this kid is getting up to inside my body, but otherwise alright.”

            He kissed her on the cheek. “I keep telling you this pup’s a boy, Kagome. Only a boy would put us through this.”

            “You’re just saying that because you want another son.”

            He blinked at her and Mama saw him flatten his ears a little bit. “Have I given you any reason to believe that I want our pup to be male?” he asked softly.

            She raised her eyes to him and looked a little guilty. “Don’t you want a boy? A son of your own?”

            “I already  ** _have_**  fourteen sons of my own,” he insisted, his voice a little harsh.

            She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant...”

            He cut her off. “I know what you meant and don’t ever let any of our pups hear you talk that way. It’s bad enough with Miroku being the way he is right now. We don’t need any of the others joining him.”

            She sighed. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it to. I was trying to say that this baby will be a blood related child...”

            “ ** _All_**  of my pups are blood related to me. I’ve spilled my blood for them more than once. That’s blood related enough for me.”

            She sighed again. “You aren’t going to let me make my point are you?”

            He crossed his arms and stared her down. “Your point makes no sense. Unless... unless  ** _you_**  think that this pup is more important than our other pups.”

            She looked down at her belly and placed one hand across the rise of her womb. “No, of course not, but you have to admit that this one is different.”

            “Only in how he came to us. We can’t ever let the pups think we love this one more.”

            “No, never,” she agreed.

            He sighed and knelt next to her, holding the hand she’d placed over her womb. “I know what you’re trying to say, koi. You’re thinking that because this baby was born of your body and my seed that he’s somehow more special than the ones who came to us already in this world. They’re all special, koi. All of them. Do you think we could have asked for so many good pups if we’d borne them all? Could we have gotten better ones? Think of Yukio, and Akihiro, and Sai. Would you have traded any of our other pups for more like the one you carry now?”

            Kagome’s eyes teared up and she sniffed, shaking her head. “No.”

            He reached up and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. “Then he, or she, will be no different than the rest, right?”

            She nodded. “Right. When did you get so much older and wiser than me?”

            He lifted up slightly and bent over her to kiss her on the cheek tenderly. “I was always older and wiser. You just didn’t realize it until now.”

            She threw her napkin at him and he snickered as he skittered away, grinning wickedly.

            “And who’s to say I don’t want a girl? Maybe I want fourteen daughters to give us an even number.”

            “If this baby is a girl, I’ll feel sorry for her because she’ll have fourteen big brothers and an over-protective father who will meet every would-be boyfriend at the door with big swords in their hands.”

            “Damn straight. No one comes sniffing around  ** _my_**  girls.”

            “ ** _Your_**  girls. You should listen to yourself sometime, hm?”

            He smiled and put his arms around Kagome’s shoulders from behind and looked over at where she was sitting, still sipping her coffee.

            “What do you think, Mama? Boy or girl?” he asked, calling her ‘Mama’ for the first time ever.

            It shocked her quite a bit actually. He’d always called her ‘Kagome’s mother’ or ‘woman’ or ‘Higurashi’ but never ‘Mama.’ She took another sip of her coffee to give her a moment to compose herself.

            “I think I’ve never been more proud of you than I am right now, and the sex of the baby isn’t important as long as it’s healthy, and both mother and baby come out of labor fine,” she replied.

            Inuyasha smiled at her. “Spoken like a true grandmother.”

            Mama just chuckled, then looked up in alarm when Kagome gasped with pain.

            “Kagome?” both she and Inuyasha asked in unison.

            “It’s... it’s okay. The baby just moved that’s all and he’s putting... pressure... on... my... back,” she replied, teeth gritted in pain.

            Inuyasha immediately knelt down next to her and start rubbing her abdomen.

            “Is he moving, koi?” he asked.

            Kagome clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut. “No... not yet. Ah!”

            Inuyasha cursed and rubbed harder. “Gotta be a fucking boy. C’mon pup, come over to Otou-san and get off Okaa-san’s spine.”

            He began to make barking noises at the unborn baby, yips and whines and a couple of growls.

            “Inu... Inuyasha, he’s moving!” Kagome announced with a heaving sigh.

            “Heh, he came over to kick at my hands. I tell you, he’s gotta be a boy, coz if this pup’s a girl she isn’t going to  ** _need_**  any of us to protect her. She’ll be born kicking ass.”

            Mama saw Kagome relax as the pain subsided, her eyes closing in relief. “Inu... thank you.”

            “Shhh, it’s okay. I love you. I’m glad I was able to help,” he said in a soft, almost hypnotic voice.

            “That... that’s the first time he’s actually answered you, isn’t it? All the other times he just moved away from your hands. This time he actually went  ** _towards_**  you.”

            “Yeah.”

            “He  ** _responded_**  to you,” she stressed, her eyes opening and focusing on him as he stopped rubbing and stood up.

            “Yeah, he did, didn’t he?”

            “That means he’s starting to have consciousness, doesn’t it?” she asked, her eyes wide with wonder. “That’s just... wow. I mean, I know it happens. I’ve read about it, but this is the first time we’ve ever experienced it.”

            Inuyasha tenderly brushed a tendril of hair away from her face and gave her a pleased smile. “Yeah.”

            Kagome let out a deep breath. “Whew. That... that was pretty exciting but now I’m wiped out again.”

            “Finish your breakfast. I’ll get your vitamins,” he said, pointing to her soup and tea.

            “Okay,” she agreed, picking up her teacup.

            Mama watched as Inuyasha brought her daughter two pills and a tall glass of water with three slices of lemon.

            “Thank you,” Kagome said as she took the pills with her water.

            “So what are your plans for today, Kagome?” she asked.

            “She’s  ** _resting_**. Isn’t she,” Inuyasha answered firmly for her.

            “Inuyasha thinks I overdid it too much yesterday so he wants me to rest today.”

            “That’s probably not a bad idea.”

            “Feh, see your mother agrees with me.”

            Kagome huffed. “Fine, but I’m not spending the day in bed.”

            “Fine. I’ll set you up on a lounge in the sunroom. You can rest there and look out at the trees and birds and other shit you like to look at.”

            “Do you have to go soon, Mama?”

            “No dear, I can stay a while,” she assured her daughter.

            “See Inuyasha, Mama is going to stay with me. That means you can go do whatever you want and leave me and Mama to do mother-daughter things.”

            Inuyasha snorted. “Keh, I was just going to see what I can do with that wreck of a car Miroku bought, and maybe later work on the first draft for that new client in Singapore.”

            Kagome took another sip of her water and nodded. “That sounds good. I’m finished eating now. I think I’ll go get dressed and then go lie down in the sunroom.” 

            As her daughter stood up slowly, Inuyasha gathered the dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

            “I wonder where the housekeeper is. Didn’t Miroku say she comes in at 9?” Kagome asked.

            “I thought that’s what he said, but I haven’t seen her,” he responded, coming over to help her steady herself on her feet.

            “Hmm, I was worried that maybe you’d screamed at her and she’d quit or something like poor Mai in Osaka.”

            Inuyasha snorted. “Mai just wanted the raise.”

            Mama stood too and waited to see what her daughter and her mate would do.

            “Well, you did scream at her rather loudly, you know.”

            “The floors were too slippery!” he insisted.

            Kagome rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t going to fall.”

            “You slipped in your socks and almost fell down the stairs.”

            “I did  ** _not_**.”

            “Did  ** _to_**.”

            “Did not!”

            “Did to!”

            “ ** _Did not!”_**

            “ ** _Did to!_**  I  ** _saw_**  you slip!”

            “Inuyasha you saw me stumble because the baby decided to kick me in the spleen!”

            “And then you  ** _slipped!_** ”

            Kagome looked up to heaven and prayed, “Oh Kami-sama, please save me from this over-bearing, over-reacting man who jumps to conclusions faster than Paris Hilton jumps into bed.”

            “Who’s Paris Hilton?”

            She sighed heavily. “Never mind.”

            “Feh.”

            “I’m going to get dressed.”

            “I’ll help you up to the room,” he offered.

            Kagome put up a warning finger. “No. Mama can help me. I’ll be fine.”

            Inuyasha lowered his ears and looked dejected, and Mama had to stop herself from giggling.

            “But…”

            Kagome took one look at his face and gave in. “Oh alright.”

            She offered him her arm and he took it, standing beside her and supporting her as she walked from the kitchen.

            “Mama, go to the sunroom. It’s down the hall to the left. You can’t miss it. I’ll be down in a few minutes,” Kagome said.

            Mama did as asked and made her way to the large sunroom. Her daughter was right and it was impossible to miss the large solarium full of plants. It was an obvious addition to the house, and a recent one to boot, and it looked out over the sprawling backyard with its garden and the trees beyond. The floor was made of blue-gray stone that served as a thermal mass and was tastefully furnished with a simple wrought-iron glass topped table with 4 matching chairs, and two heavily cushioned wrought-iron chaise lounges with small matching tables next to them. In one corner a little fountain bubbled noisily as it spilled its water through a series of cupped brass fern leaves.

            She’d brought her refilled coffee mug with her and sat down to watch the birds feeding from the birdfeeder and taking baths in the birdbath until she heard movement behind her. Turning her head, she saw Inuyasha escorting a dressed Kagome into the room. She had put on a loose denim jumper dress, a white T-shirt and a pair of tabi socks, and had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Inuyasha had dressed as well, and he was now in a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt that said ‘Your village called. Their idiot is missing’ in English.

            “Over here, koi,” Inuyasha said, ushering her over to one of the chaise lounges and helping her to lie down on it. He put extra cush ions under her feet to elevate her ankles.

            Kagome went willingly and Mama moved her chair to sit next to her once she was settled. Inuyasha disappeared for a few moments and returned carrying a glass of ice water (with the requisite 3 slices of lemon) and a little hand held Motorola transceiver. He had the transceiver’s bright red twin clipped to his belt.

            “I’ll be in the garage seeing what I can do with Miroku’s hunk of scrap metal. If you need me, beep me,” he said, placing the glass and the transceiver on the table beside the lounge.

            “Don’t let Miroku hear you call his classic Aston Martin a hunk of scrap metal,” she warned.

            “Feh. It’s a piece of crap. He should have bought the Delorean if he wanted a fixer-upper.”

            “James Bond doesn’t drive a Delorean.”

            “James Bond is a womanizing asshole.”

            “Yeah, but Sean Connery is soooooo cute.”

            Inuyasha just growled jealously, making Kagome giggle and give him a little push.

            “Go. Before you go all alpha-male on me. I don’t want Sean Connery. He doesn’t have your cute, fuzzy ears,” she teased.

            “Feh. Nice to know it’s my ears that do it for you.”

            She gave him a sly smile and slapped his backside lightly as he turned away.

            “It’s a lot more than your ears.”

            “Don’t tease me,” he quipped back, kissing her forehead sweetly. “If you need anything…”

            “I’ll beep you. I promise. Now shoo. Mama-daughter time, remember?”

            He sighed and acquiesced, but not before fixing Mama with a look that spoke volumes.

            “Don’t worry, Inuyasha, I’ll take good care of her,” she promised.

            He nodded, gave Kagome one more kiss and a pat to his unborn child, and left her alone with her daughter. Kagome sighed with relief the moment he was gone.

            “Ah, finally. A moment’s peace without my Great Protector hovering over me and flipping out every time I sneeze.”

            Mama chuckled. “He’s only looking out for you, Kagome.”

            “There’s looking out for me and there’s smothering me. He passed the point of looking out and went over to smothering a long time ago, Mama.”

            “Being that you’ve had four miscarriages and this baby is your last chance, can you blame him?”

            She sighed again and rubbed her abdomen. “No. I suppose not, but it is annoying. Pregnancy is difficult enough without having to fight him on every little thing. Honestly. He’s so worried about stressing me out that he doesn’t realize that his worry is stressing me out.”

            “True. But men rarely see that side of things. All Inuyasha sees is you in discomfort and danger. He’s always been viciously protective of you.”     

            “I know. Believe me, I know.”

            They grew silent and Mama sipped her coffee while Kagome stared out of the sunroom, her face pensive.

            “I’m scared, Mama,” she finally said. “I’m so scared.”

            “What is it that you are so afraid of?”

            Kagome placed a hand on her abdomen and looked down at the swell of her womb.

            “Failure. So much is riding on this baby. If he, or she, is born alive and lives, it will be the first successful birthing of a hanyou sired child. So many others have tried and failed. So far we’ve gotten the closest to doing it. If we do, then we prove that hanyous  ** _can_**  have children- at least some of them can. So many youkai bloodlines would be saved from extinction if that could be true for other hanyous. So many others have a vested interest in seeing my baby born alive. I feel terrible pressure…”

            Mama covered Kagome’s hand with her own. “Don’t. You’re doing the best you can. That is all anyone could ask for. Don’t let their anxiousness make you more nervous than you already are. All you need to do is concentrate on staying healthy and bringing this baby into the world. Let everyone else worry about the rest of it.”

            “I can’t. I pushed Inuyasha into this. He kept telling me he wanted to stop. After I miscarried the third baby almost halfway into the second trimester, I had to try that much harder to get him to agree to another attempt,” she replied.

            “Seeing you in pain was very hard on him.”

            “I know, but I wanted another baby, and I wanted it to be his baby. His and mine. I know he said that this one will be no different than the others, and in some ways he’s right, but in others he’s wrong. This baby  ** _is_**  different. Not because it’s more important or special than our adopted children, but because…”

            “This one you carried,” she finished for her.

            “Exactly. I know how much it hurt him to find out that he couldn’t sire pups. I wanted to give him that chance if I could.”

            She looked at her daughter lovingly. “I understand, Kagome, but you didn’t need to prove your love for him by putting yourself through all of this danger.”

            “I didn’t do it because I felt I had to prove anything, Mama. I know Inuyasha loves me no matter what. I did it because I really miss being a mom. It’s been 215 years since I had a baby to care for.”

            “Kagome… children grow up and leave home. That is the way of things. The duty of a good parent is to see that her children grow strong and good, and become positive members of society,” she reminded.

            “Yes, but most parents aren’t immortal with mortal children,” Kagome answered sadly. “I know. I’ve buried six of my babies. Two I watched grow from infants to old people who died from their age. Even Eri, my full-youkai daughter isn’t immortal. Yukio? He’s getting older. I can see it in him. Eventually, he’ll die too. They’ll all die and Inuyasha and I will still be here. Then what will we do? Our family will be gone and it will just be him and me.”

            Mama had no answer for her. She had no idea what it must be like for Kagome to know she would outlive all of her children.

            “The children don’t know,” Kagome began in a very soft voice, as if she was afraid someone might hear her. “But Inuyasha and I have made a pact. When the last of them go, we’ll go too.”

            A shiver of cold touched her heart at what she was hearing. “Kagome do you mean…?”

            Kagome nodded. “We’ve decided. I’m not scared. I think by then we’ll be ready for death. All of those we loved will have already died. You, Jii-chan, Souta… you’ll all be dust by the time Inuyasha and I are ready to go. It will be a peaceful release and Inuyasha and I will find each other in the next life. A love like ours is eternal. We’ve probably been together for millennia in one form or another.”

            “And the children don’t know about this pact?” Mama said.

            Kagome shook her head. “It would upset them too much. We’ve kept it between ourselves. You’re the first person I’ve told since we made it after Takako’s death in 1949.”

            “But why would you do such a thing?” she asked.

            “Because the world changes and we don’t. You have no idea what it’s like to stay the same while everything else around you evolves almost faster than you can handle. Even now, technology is changing so fast we can barely keep up. I had to help my children through the Industrial Age but we’ve approached the time when my knowledge of the future has run out. I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore.”

            “None of us do, Kagome. That doesn’t mean we go out and choose to die because of it,” she argued.

            “You don’t have to. You’re mortal. Time will do it for you and you won’t have to worry about it. It’s different with Inuyasha and me. We don’t age. We don’t change. We are forever preserved as we were the day Inuyasha made his wish. I’ve seen what happens to humans who get tired of living. Yukio’s wife Miaka refused the infusions of his blood and chose to die. She left my baby an emotional wreck. He cried every day for almost ten years and I could do nothing to help him. Inu-youkai mate for life and his mate chose death over him,” Kagome explained gently.

            “But aren’t you choosing the same thing, Kagome?”  
            Her daughter shook her head. “No. I’d never leave Inuyasha. When we go, we’ll go together. We’ll both go to sleep and not wake up. We’ve already decided how we’re going to do it. There’s a potion I can make. I know the ingredients.” She looked down at her womb again. “But… if we can have babies, then we’ll stay longer. As long as we have living children who need us, we’ll stay. We won’t go until all of them are gone. We won’t leave any of our children orphaned if we can help it.”

            “Then I hope you will have babies,” she answered honestly. No parent should be having this type of conversation with a pregnant child. Pregnancy was for the celebration of life, not death.

            “Maybe. Maybe by the time this little one is grown, the technology will have advanced so much that all hanyous will be able to have babies without any trouble, and we won’t have to go through the kind of hardships we’ve suffered again.”

            Mama nodded and decided to change the subject after a brief silence. “So. Inuyasha is an architect.  ** _That’s_** a surprise.”

            Kagome laughed. “Isn’t it? What’s even more of a surprise is he’s damn good at it. He has such a strong grasp of space and the use of materials. He just  ** _knows_**  what works. His clients love him. We don’t have to advertise for new projects. We get all our new clients from referrals,” she answered proudly.

            “He says your house inCanada looks like a… a…”

            “Northwestern Hunting Lodge,” Kagome supplied. “Yeah. It’s incredible. It has huge beams and a towering great room. He even has two carved totem poles that support the great room roof. He made it all from stone and logs. You’ll have to come stay there with us sometime. I’d love for you to see our Alberta house.”

            Mama nodded. “I think I would really enjoy that.”

            Kagome reached over and finished her water.

            “Would you like another?” Mama asked, already standing.

            “Actually, no. What I’d really like is a cup of coffee, but we have to be quick about it. Inuyasha doesn’t want me having anything with too much caffeine. He says it makes me too hyper for the baby,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

            Mama giggled. “Then let’s go to the kitchen and make some coffee. I could use a refill too.”

            Kagome reached up a hand and Mama helped her rise to her feet.

            “Don’t tell Inuyasha you let me walk anywhere without him,” she kidded.

            “I won’t,” Mama promised as she and Kagome made their way to the kitchen, running into the formerly missing housekeeper who happily made them a fresh pot of coffee.

            They spent the majority of the day together, talking and doing mother-daughter things. Kagome showed her the room they were going to use for the nursery, and the plans that they had. It wouldn’t be safe for the baby to fly until after he or she was six months old so they knew they would be staying in Tokyo for at least that long.

            Mama mentioned the upcoming nuptials they had been planning the last time she had seen Kagome, before the well closed and her daughter had to wait 450 years to see her again. Kagome said she still wanted to marry Inuyasha in a Shinto ceremony, and she knew Jii-chan wanted it as well, but she wanted to put it off for a year. She felt that getting married right after having the baby was just too much for her, and she didn’t want to have to worry about planning a wedding while she was pregnant. Mama was more than happy to put it off for another year because it gave her more time. Kagome also decided that she wanted to marry Inuyasha on her birthday, because that day also marked the day she had met him.

            The rest of the afternoon was consumed by wedding and baby plans. Inuyasha popped his head in around lunchtime, covered in grease and grime from fighting with ‘that piece of shit British car,’ and Kagome made him wash up before she let him into the kitchen. After lunch he disappeared again the moment he saw that they were looking at wedding sites on-line, and talking about tuxedos and formal ceremonies and guest lists. He beat a hasty retreat before they could drag him into it.

            Yukio and Souta arrived back at the house right around three in the afternoon. Both were in good spirits and Souta was positively thrilled to have ridden back with Yukio on his Triumph motorcycle. He couldn’t stop talking about the day, the ride, the bike, how Yukio popped a wheelie for him just so he could see how it felt… Mama stopped him short after that because she just didn’t want to know. Inuyasha then dragged Yukio and Souta out to the garage to look at ‘the car,’ muttering something about ‘women and their damn planning,’ and the house was quiet again.

            Dinner plans were made to go out to eat at a favorite restaurant, and Yukio was sent to fetch Jii-chan from the shrine. Sometime before it was time for them to leave for their reservation, three phone calls were received at the house. One was from Sesshoumaru regarding a new company he’d been asked to invest in and he wanted to know if Kagome knew anything about it. Inuyasha ripped the phone from Kagome’s hand and told his brother to ‘read the fucking prospectus’ himself, but not before the invitation to dinner had been extended to him and Rin and accepted.

            The second was from Tomo to say that he would be coming by the following afternoon to visit with his parents on a one-on-one basis, and he was making sure that they would be at the house when he arrived.

The third phone call was from a contact in Tokyo’s District Public Prosecutor’s Office. Apparently a certain Dr. Ishimoro had filed a complaint against Kagome Higurashi and her mother for damages to a car, harassment and threats on her life. Both Yukio and Inuyasha’s faces darkened at the news, and Inuyasha clenched his fists so hard he nearly broke the skin. He was fully prepared to personally deal with the ‘good doctor’ himself, but Yukio begged for the privilege of taking down the woman who had hurt his mother. Inuyasha found a perverse pleasure in agreeing to let the baby the doctor had so slandered handle the ‘problem.’ Yukio promised to make it his first duty the following day.

            Miroku returned home from the university and was roped into going to dinner with them, upping the number in their party to nine. A car was hired to take them to the restaurant and the seven of them left with enough time to get there. Sesshoumaru and Rin were already waiting when they arrived, and a brief pissing contest ensued between the two brothers over the earlier phone call, which abruptly ended when Kagome erupted into hysterical tears. The two sulked for the rest of the evening, each in their own little corners as far away from each other as possible. The only really good thing about having dinner with the taiyoukai was that he promised to have the necessary papers drawn up for Yukio’s ‘conference with the good doctor’ by 9am the following morning.

            The evening ended with the hired car dropping Jii-chan, Souta and Mama off at the shrine before taking the rest of them back to Tokyo House. Plans were made for Mama and Kagome to go shopping for baby items to furnish the new nursery the following morning, to wit Inuyasha just handed over his Platinum card and made Mama swear to make sure Kagome didn’t overtax herself and to have her back before Tomo’s visit at three. Then Mama stood on the curb and waved as the car drove away before following Souta and Jii-chan up the shrine stairs to the house.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine

 

            Yukio adjusted the small wire-rimmed glasses he sported on his face and smoothed his hair as he checked his concealment spell for the umpteenth time. Looking at his watch, he noted that it was almost time for his arranged meeting with Dr. Ishimoro and he did his best to hold in his excitement. He hadn’t been this wound up about threatening someone with bodily harm in decades. It was true that he did not relish battle the way his father once had, and he had never thrown himself into conflict with wild abandon. However, it didn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy the rush of power or the thrill of letting out his untamed side on occasion. He just didn’t do it often. He almost wished he had managed to convince Ryoukan to join him. His wolf-hanyou brother excelled at threats and took great pleasure in them. He’d had visions of telling the good doctor he would throw her to the wolves and then do just that. Unfortunately, Ryou declined to participate, although he did ask Yukio to put in a few good snarls for him. Now he stood, briefcase in hand, waiting for the doctor to arrive at the District Public Prosecutor’s Office.

             _‘And Uncle’s lawyers once again_   _show their remarkable efficiency and talent.’_

            He’d read the papers and been highly impressed. Suit and counter-suit, charge and counter-charge, and a settlement offer complete with airplane ticket good for a one-way trip anywhere in the world as long as it was out of Japan.

             _‘I’ll nail her with the papers, then I’ll nail her to the wall if she refuses,’_  he thought, flexing his fingers eagerly.

            He had only dim memories of her from the two times he had seen her as a child, but he knew her immediately the moment she turned the corner and started walking down the hall.

            “Dr. Ishimoro?” he asked.

            “Yes. You must be the prosecutor that called me this morning,” the doctor replied, coming to stand before him.

            He bowed just slightly for appearances’ sake and shook his head. “I’m just a clerk. But I have been given authorization to discuss your case and there are some things that need to be cleared up.”

             _‘Well, it’s not a complete lie…’_

            He motioned to the small interrogation room behind him. “If you’ll just step in here, we can get started.”

            She gave him a brief nod and preceded him into the room as he held the door open for her.

_‘God woman, you are so naïve…’_

            They sat down across the table from each other and Yukio opened his briefcase, taking out a small stack of papers. Adjusting the glasses that he didn’t need, he went through the motions of appearing to read what was in front of him.

            “It says here that you’ve made several attempts to file charges against the Higurashis over a number of months.”

            “Yes, that’s true. I’ve filed several reports with the police and none of them have ever been followed up on. I have been down to police headquarters four times and nothing has ever been done!” the woman complained.

             _‘Possibly because the Chief of Police is an inu-hanyou who knows my family personally, and the Higurashi name has long been held as protected by us.’_

            “Hmmmmm. Damage to property. Harassment. Threats on your life… Have you any proof of these accusations?”

            “I have photographs of the damage to my car. I did have proof of the threats but my recorder was destroyed. As for the harassment, numerous black marks have shown up on my credit report that I had nothing to do with. I was also denied partnership at the clinic where I work, and the Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology has put me up for review twice!”

            “Hmmmm. Do you have proof that Higurashi Kagome and her mother are behind these ‘black marks’ and responsible for your difficulties? Oh, I see that the accused is a minor…”

            A set of photographs showing a mangled white car were tossed carelessly in front of him. He made another show of adjusting his glasses as he picked them up.

            “Ah I see this is the alleged damage to your vehicle. Oh my, this looks quite… nasty.”  _‘Way to go Otou-san. You did a number on this little Honda.’_

            “Her  ** _thing_**  did that.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “The girl has a boyfriend who follows her around. He did that to my car after he threatened my life.”

            “Are you saying that a young man did this kind of damage to your vehicle? With what, may I ask?”

            The doctor looked uncomfortable. “You won’t believe me, but he did it with his hand.”

            “His hand?”

            “Yes. He’s…” She leaned close and whispered. “Not human.”

            He made a show of raising his eyebrows. “Not human, Dr. Ishimoro?”

            “No. He’s a mutant of some sort. He has claws and animal ears on his head.”

             _‘Mutant? What is this, the X-Files? Scully! Mulder! The aliens have landed and they’re having babies with dog ears!_   _Oh no, I get it. It’s the X-Men revisited. Move over Wolverine, the real bad ass has shown up. Otou-san is gonna love this.’_

            He had to bite his cheek to keep himself from laughing.

            “I see…”

            “I know you don’t believe me, but I swear, if you find the girl, you’ll find her shadow and  ** _he’s_**  the one you want.”

            “Hmmmm.”

            “There’s something else.”

            He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “There’s more?”

            “She has that thing’s spawn with her. She’s feeding it.”

            ‘Okay. Just about had enough here…’

            “The minor has a child with her?”

            “It’s not hers. She’s just feeding it. She induced lactation. The girl is mentally deranged I tell you. She needs professional help.”

             _‘That was_   ** _me_**   _she was feeding, you arrogant bitch,_   _and I’m just about out of patience.’_

            “I hired a private investigator to get photographs of the boyfriend, but I haven’t heard from him in several weeks.”

            “Hmmm. That is very suspicious.” He glanced at the papers and saw a note from one of the lawyers about a ‘disposal’ that had been performed in the vicinity of Kagome’s high school.  _‘Well, they won’t be finding him. Ever.’_

            “I’m worried that something may have happened to him,” she admitted, a knowing look in her eyes.

            “What leads you to believe that?” he asked innocently.

            “Because I’ve seen what that thing can do. He mangled my car and crushed my recorder with his bare hands. An animal like that could kill a human with one swipe. I’m certain her beast did something to that man.”

            He gathered up the papers and straightened them out by tapping them on their ends.

            “Well, it certainly sounds like you’ve gotten in over your head, Doctor. In fact, I know you have.”

            He slid the stack of papers over to her and waited for her to read them, his hands placed before his mouth with the ends of his fingers touching. He watched her brow wrinkle with confusion as she leafed through the documents.

            “I don’t understand...” she said.

            He took off the glasses and folded them neatly on the table. “What’s not to understand? You are being shown your choices. If you insist on continuing your suit against the Higurashi family, you will be counter-sued. You will also be charged with violations of the Patient Privacy Act. You will not only lose your position with your medical firm, but also your license to practice medicine in Japan. We’ve tried to be reasonable about this because we understand that this situation is hard for you to grasp, but you’ve been supremely hard-headed and refused to take the hint.”

            She sputtered. “You... you’re not with the District Public Prosecutor’s Office!”

            “Really? What gave it away? Was it my Versace suit? Do you honestly believe someone living on a Public Prosecutor’s salary could afford a suit like this?”

            “This! This is an outrage! This is harassment! How dare you bring me here under false pretenses! I’ll have your job for this!” she screeched, standing up.

            He held up one finger. “Ah. Ah. Ah. I never said I was with the Prosecutor’s Office. You merely  ** _assumed_**  that I was. At no time did I identify myself.”

            “You had me come here to the Prosecutor’s Office for our meeting!”

            He waved his hands at the room. “Merely a courtesy offered to us by our constituents.”

            “Listen you, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but I refuse to be bullied.”

            He gave her a sweet smile. “My dear Dr. Ishimoro. I’m not trying to bully you. I’m offering you a  ** _third_**  opportunity to make the right choice. You can drop the charges against the Higurashi family, take the settlement we are offering you which will  ** _more_**  than cover the purchase of a new vehicle, and go forth to live happily ever after. Or you can continue with your suit and be crushed in the process. The choice is yours, but I know what decision I would make if I were you.”

            “If you think I’m going to be silenced by that little animal-loving whore and her demon beast, you’ve got another thing coming. I don’t know where a shrine family like the Higurashis get the kind of money they’d need to take me on, but they’ll be bankrupt and homeless by the time I get through with them.  ** _I_**  have connections of my own that I can use to crush  ** _you!_** ”

            Yukio saw red and his nostrils flared. The woman was angry, but there was an underlying tang of fear there too.

             _‘Fear? I’ll give you something to be afraid of. You haven’t a clue what monsters lurk in the night.’_

            Standing, he slammed his fist into the middle of the table and it cracked along the grain of the wood. With a loud snap, it split in two and crashed to the floor, sending papers flying everywhere.

            “ ** _That_**  was child’s play for me, Doctor. I have more power in my pinky finger than you have in your whole damn body.”

            As she stared at the wreckage of the table, he flicked his finger and dropped his signet ring into his jacket pocket faster than human eyesight could register. He didn’t want her to know that the ring was the key to his concealment spell. It also bore the symbol of his family crest. When she looked up and saw him in his true form, her eyes opened wide and she gasped. He took a deep breath and reveled in the renewed scent of fear that now rose up from her.

            “You! You’re one of  ** _them!_** ” she accused.

            He gave her a wolfish smile that showed his fangs, and effortlessly pushed aside the broken table to advance on her. She scrambled backwards, trying to get away but soon hit the wall behind her.

            “You have no idea what  ** _you’re_**  getting into. There are thousands of us. We are everywhere. Nearly a third of the people in this building are my kind,” he told her menacingly.

            As he got closer, her fear-scent spiked and the demon in him shivered in ecstasy. It had been so long since he’d let that side of him out to play, decades since he’d allowed his youkai blood full reign, and the rage sent his blood boiling just under the surface.

            “You’re lucky my father just threatened you,” he told her, stalking her like a predator would his prey. “There are many of us who don’t give a shit about humans and would have killed you on the spot. If you’d run into any of them you would have been dead ten times over by now. We don’t want to kill you. Your ignorance is not your fault, but your continued pursuit of my family is forcing our hand. If you do not cease and desist, you will be killed. We are a very protective race, and we do not react well to being threatened.”

            She was pressed up against the wall now and he was only inches away. He could feel her body heat radiating off of her, and smell the tang of her sweat and the delicious stench of fear. His whole body shuddered as he took another sniff, making no effort to hide his actions or his obvious pleasure.

            “Take my advice, Doctor. Take the settlement, shut up, and go away. It is the only thing that will spare your life,” he whispered, his voice raspy as he brought his face close to her throat, almost close enough to lick the pulse point of her skin.

            She shivered and scrabbled at the wall, her heart racing with terror, and he took the claw of his pinky finger and ran it across her jugular just hard enough to scratch but not enough to break the skin.

            “When push comes to shove, I could kill you with a flick of my wrist and you’d never know what hit you,” he hissed, backing up his threat with a throaty growl.

            He heard her make a choking sound and saw her close her eyes. The demon in him was in raptures, but his sudden realization of how much he was  ** _enjoying_**  her fear splashed over him like a bucket of cold water.

             _‘This is too easy. It’s too easy to find pleasure in their terror, in seeing them cower like prey. But this power… it isn’t real and… and it goes against everything I was ever taught.’_

            He stepped back, regaining control over his emotions and reining his rage back in. The doctor lost her footing and slid to the floor, her breath coming in short, panting gasps. She put a hand to her throat, feeling the skin. Her whole body was trembling.

            Yukio took the opportunity to gather up the papers and drop them at her knees.

            “Do me a favor, Doctor, and sign the papers. I don’t make it a habit to slaughter humans. As a general rule I don’t find your race much sport, and I haven’t killed one of you in over eighty years. Don’t make yourself my first victim in eight decades.”

            She looked up at him and he returned her gaze without blinking. In inu-youkai he was begging her to challenge him so he could rip out her throat, but she was oblivious to his silent signals. After a moment, she dropped her eyes and stared at the papers on the floor by her legs. With shaky hands, she reached for them and the blank airline ticket voucher.

            He put his hand in his jacket pocket to retrieve a pen, slipping his signet ring back on in the process.

            “Do you need a pen?” he asked her, offering the writing implement.

            She did a double take when she saw him back in human form but accepted the pen from him.

            “How do you do that? The other, the girl’s demon, didn’t hide what he was,” she asked bravely.

            “Some of us find assuming human form more convenient. It makes our lives easier.”

            “So you can hide like wolves in sheep’s clothing,” she said bitterly.

            He shrugged. “The vast majority of us are law-abiding citizens with homes and families just like you, Doctor. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it had to come to this. I don’t particularly like threatening humans. As I said, I don’t find your race much sport.”

            “The lot of you should be exterminated like rats,” she seethed.

            He smirked at her bravado but noticed that she was signing the forms. “You’d be surprised at how many of us there are, and what positions of power we hold. I think you would find yourself in much deeper trouble than you already are if you tried to garner opposition against us. You’d earn the attention of creatures much more powerful, deadly and less forgiving than me.”

            “I’m only doing this because I have a daughter to think of. I don’t want your filth ruining her life.”

            He ignored her comment and smiled. “Call the number on the top sheet of your copy of the settlement and as many flight vouchers as you require will be provided for you. Also, if you inform us of your final destination, I am sure we can do something to ease your transition into your new home. A job and suitable living quarters, perhaps.”

            She sneered. “I don’t want anything from your despicable kind, demon.”

            He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

            As she finished signing the papers, he retrieved his briefcase and glasses, frowning at the broken lenses.

_‘Oh well, no big loss. They were just a pair of cheap reading glasses.’_

            She handed him the papers without looking at him and he balanced the briefcase on its end in one hand as he opened it and dropped them in.

            “Pen?” he asked.

            The item was thrown at him, and he snatched it out of the air effortlessly and calmly returned it to his pocket.

            “Well then, Doctor, our business here is concluded. I would like to say it’s been a pleasure, but I’m not in the habit of lying. I do hope that I will never see you again.”

            “Fuck you.”

            “No thanks. You’re not my type. Besides, you couldn’t dream of keeping up with me. Good day.”

            With that, he left the small room and closed the door behind him. Turning, he made his way down the hall to the Chief of Police’s office and popped his head in.

            “Amagawa-san,” he called, catching the Chief of Police’s attention.

            The concealed inu-hanyou looked up, his eyes widening and immediately stood, bowing deeply.

            “Fushikenwa-san!” he said, noticing the signet ring on Yukio’s hand.

            “Sit down,” he soothed, coming into the office and closing the door behind him. “I just wanted to thank you for the use of one of your spare rooms.”

            “It was an honor to serve you, Fushikenwa-san. When the esteemed Nishitaishou family contacted me, I was pleased to be able to accommodate their requests,” the male replied.

            He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, fishing out several bills.

            “Unfortunately, I broke the table in the room. I hope this covers the cost of replacement. If it doesn’t, please contact my uncle and I’ll settle the difference,” he admitted, placing the bills on the desk.

            The inu-hanyou eyed the money with wide eyes. “That amount will be more than enough, Fushikenwa-san.”

            Yukio shrugged. “Use what’s leftover for the widows-fund or something. Anyway, I have to go. The good doctor should be dropping all charges and moving elsewhere very soon.”

            Amagawa bowed again. “A wise choice on her part.”

            “I thought so. You have a good day, and let my uncle know the next time you have a fund raiser. I’ll make a donation.”

            “Thank you, Fushikenwa-san.”

            He bowed and the inu-hanyou bowed back, then he gave a careless little wave and opened the door.

            “Be safe,” he said, breezing out of the office.

            “And you, Fushikenwa-san. Be safe.”

            The train ride back to Tokyo House was brief and uneventful, and Yukio found himself in good spirits. His body still tingled from the rush of power and the raging of his demon blood, and he knew he needed to relax and take it easy for the rest of the day just to make sure his youkai side settled down properly. Other than that, however, he was feeling rather pleased with himself and smiled smugly.

_‘I’m glad it all worked out, and I got to have a bit of fun with that nasty bitch while I was at it. Otou-san will be proud of me.’_

            He was doing a little two-step and humming the opening bars of James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’ as he opened the door to the house, kicked off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen where he found his brother Miroku standing by the coffee maker.

            “Hey, little brother,” he greeted, dropping his suit jacket onto the back of a chair and rubbing the younger inu-hanyou on the head. “How are you doing today? You’re home early from the university.”

            Miroku grumbled at him and poured a cup of coffee as Yukio hopped up and sat on the counter, legs swinging.

            “Got a cup for me?” he asked sweetly.

            “Get it yourself, and please stop putting your butt prints on the Corian. My housekeeper will have fits if she sees you up there. She just finished cleaning the kitchen before she went out,” Miroku groused.

            “Versace does not leave butt prints on anything,” he replied, but hopped down. “What flea crawled up your butt today, otouto? It can’t be Myouga-jiji. He’s in Las Vegas with the showgirls.”

            “Don’t call me that,” Miroku snapped.

            He grabbed a mug from the dishwasher and poured himself a cup of coffee, trying to ignore his brother’s surly attitude. It would be no good for him to get into a fight right now, not with his youkai blood so close to the surface.

            “Where’s Okaa-san? It’s almost two.”

            Miroku shrugged. “Still out with her mother shopping for the new baby.”

            “Hmmm, Otou-san will be pissed. Mama-baachan promised not to let Okaa-san wear herself out. I would have expected them back by now. Tomo’s coming over at three.”

            “I have no clue what they’re doing, but two delivery men have already showed up to bring a crib and a diaper changing table,” Miroku told him, a scowl on his face.

_‘Okay, something is really wrong here…’_

            “Cool. Has Otou-san seen them?”

            “He told them to put the furniture in the third bedroom.”

            “The one next to theirs? Good choice.”  _‘That’s a small room, but it gets lots of sunlight, and the pup will be between my room and theirs so I’ll hear the pup crying if he’s in there by himself and needs care. Okaa will probably keep_   _the pup_   _with her most of the time though. She always has. I slept with them regularly until I was 4.’_

            “I offered them my room, but they said no.”

            “Why would you offer them your room? They wouldn’t take your room. We’re only going to be here a few months. Just until the pup’s old enough to fly,” he replied, taking a sip from his mug.  _‘Mmmmm. Good coffee. Miroku might be a city-boy, but he makes a damn fine cup of coffee.’_

            “Why not? Only the best for the new heir and my room’s the nicest,” the younger inu-hanyou snapped back peevishly.

            “New heir? Miroku what are you talking about?”

            Miroku slammed his cup of coffee down on the counter hard enough to crack the mug.

_‘Whoa…’_

            “Haven’t you gotten the memo? This baby is going to  ** _live_** ,” Miroku hissed.

            He blinked. “Well, of course it’s going to live. Isn’t it wonderful? Okaa-san and Otou-san will finally have a pup of their own.”

            “Will you  ** _listen to_**   ** _what you are saying?!_** ”

            “Huh? Miroku, what the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been a real asshole lately.”

            Miroku threw up his hands. “God you are so dense! Our parents are having a child! A  ** _biological_**  child!!”

            “Yeah. So? You don’t think it’s as fantastic as I do?”

            Miroku stared at him, dumbfounded. “Are you insane? Don’t you know what this means for the rest of us?”

            “We get a new brother or sister?” he offered.

            “You stupid idiot! We’re all  ** _adopted!_** ”

            “Yes, and now Okaa-san is finally pregnant and she’s going to have Otou-san’s pup after so many years of trying and so much trouble,” he replied.

            “Yes, so much trouble. So much money and danger and effort to have their own baby. Why? Why did they go through all of that?” Miroku pressed, his fists clenching.

            “You know why. Okaa-san wanted another pup and there aren’t any hanyou orphans anymore. And they couldn’t get a human pup. Not with all of us and the lives we lead. They had no choice but to try for their own,” he explained patiently.  _‘Miroku, you know all of this. Okaa-san and Otou-san have told us dozens of times why they tried so hard for a pup.’_

            Miroku shook his head. “No. Why would they go through so much? Okaa-san’s had  ** _four_**  miscarriages and she’s almost bled to death at least once. Why? It’s because  ** _we’re not good enough_**  for them. That’s why!”

             _‘Not good enough? Oh_   _otouto, is this what you’ve been carrying inside you all this time? Do you honestly think this pup will be more important than us?’_

            “No, Miroku, no. No, my brother. It’s not like that at all,” he assured him, approaching with arms outstretched.

            Miroku slapped his hands away. “Don’t touch me. You may not care about being replaced, but I do!”

            “Is that what you think? That all of us will be replaced by this new pup? Do you honestly believe that our parents are that petty and shallow?”  _‘This isn’t about them. It’s about his biological mother. Arrogant, vapid bitch that she is.’_

            “Why would they try so hard? Why would Okaa-san risk her life, risk  ** _both_**  of their lives to have this baby if it wasn’t more important than them staying alive for us? We’re second best! They’ll have this baby and flaunt their blood-child in our faces!”

            Yukio stopped and looked at Miroku. His brother was wide-eyed and panting, his pupils dilated and his hands clenching and unclenching.

             _‘This is a bad combination. He’s going into full melt-down and I’m too riled up from earlier. I need my father to come in here and handle him before this gets out of hand. Miroku’s always been hot-headed, but this is insane.’_

            “You need to listen to what you are saying, Miroku. You’re not making any sense, otouto. Okaa-san and Otou-san would never reject us like that,” he tried calmingly.

            “You’re a fool, Yukio. A naïve fool. This baby will change everything. And if god-forbid it’s a boy, he’ll be the prodigal son and you can kiss your status as Second good-bye!”

            He was edging his way towards the kitchen door, hands up and spread in peace.  _‘Otou is probably in the garage or in the drafting room.’_

            “I have more faith in Okaa-san and Otou-san than that. I know they would never do that to us. They love us very much and if you’d just calm down, you’d realize that you’re talking nonsense.”

            Miroku was watching him with predatory eyes and he didn’t like that look at all.

_‘Otouto, don’t do this. Please don’t do this. If you push me, you’ll get more than you bargained for, I promise.’_

            “I’m the only one in this family who sees this for what it really is. The rest of you idiots are blind,” the younger inu-hanyou seethed.

            “I’m gonna go get Otou-san. And when Okaa-san gets back, we’ll all sit down and talk this out, and I’m sure they will tell you the same things I’m telling you now. So why don’t we just calm down and take a deep breath…”

            Miroku’s eyes flashed red and pale stripes appeared on the cheeks of his flushed face, rippling in and out of existence. Because the female was the youkai parent in his lineage, his demon blood was closer to the surface than Yukio’s or his father’s, and it sometimes showed in markings on his face and in his eyes when he was angry. It didn’t mean that he would turn full youkai the way his father would at times when his life was threatened and he didn’t have Tessaiga. Miroku’s youkai blood was sealed by his sword, but sometimes it came dangerously close to being let loose.

             _‘Shit and he doesn’t have Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga on him…_   _Come to think of it, I left Kenshuga in my room this morning.’_

            “I don’t want to calm down. I want someone in this family to take me fucking seriously for once!”

            “It’d be a lot easier to take you seriously of you weren’t spewing bullshit like a blithering idiot!” he snapped, his own demon blood responding to the growing threat.

            Later he would have to admit that the jibe was uncalled for and had only made things worse, but right then he’d just about run out of patience. Miroku responded by snarling and charging at him. Rather than turn to avoid the blow however, he met it head on and slammed the younger male to the floor.

            :Submit, lesser-male,: he ordered in inu-youkai.

            Miroku flashed his throat and Yukio let him up, thinking the fight was over, but the moment he turned his back, the younger inu-hanyou was on him, snarling and scratching. He howled as the claws bit into his flesh and he twisted, reaching back to grab his brother and rip him away to send him flying into the cappuccino/coffee maker. There was a loud smash as the machine crashed to the floor, the carafe full of coffee shattering and sending shards and hot liquid all over the kitchen. Miroku recovered, crouching low and they both growled warningly.

            “Miroku, enough of this. If Okaa-san comes in and sees us fighting, she’ll be upset,” he cautioned, bristling and flexing his claws.

            “You’re nothing but a simpering Mama’s boy, Yukio; a hopeless puppy yipping at his parents’ heels like a pathetic loser. You’ve never lived more than five ri away from them whenever you had a choice. Even when you were mated to Miaka, you kept close so you could be near your mother. You’re weak and hopeless. You don’t deserve the title of Second,” Miroku taunted.

            Yukio growled and bared his teeth as they circled each other. “Are you challenging me for the position of beta-male?”

            “The pack will need a strong male to challenge when the leader tries to usurp us with a newborn.”

            “You intend to go after Otou-san?”

            “He’s an old man who’s grown soft.  ** _I’ve_**  been training. I’m ready to better my status in this family,” Miroku threatened.

            “Training with who? Richard Simmons? Karate for Dummies? Otou-san is as strong and fast as he was four hundred years ago. You don’t stand a chance against him. And you’d have to beat me first,” he spat.

            “Both of you are weak, sentimental fools. I’ll defeat you, then Oyaji. Then Ofukuro will have to bend to  ** _my_**  will as the new alpha-male.”

            The demon blood in him roiled at the unspoken threat and he arched his back, snarling.

            “You think an untrained, insolent pup like you can beat me? Go ahead and try.”

            Growling, Miroku rushed him and he met the blow with his shoulder, striking the younger male in the solar plexus, then he rounded and slammed Miroku in the middle of his back with both of his fists. He kept his claws away from skin so as not to hurt his brother with them, but Miroku offered him no such courtesy. As the younger inu-hanyou rolled to his feet, he lashed out, slashing Yukio across the arm.

            Yukio yowled in pain and the scent of his own blood fed his growing rage. He abandoned all pretense of holding back and returned the swipe with one of his own. His strike hit its mark and ripped Miroku’s shirt across his shoulder blade, drawing blood. Miroku reached behind him to touch the wound and licked the blood off of his fingers. His eyes were completely unfocused and manic, and Yukio was struggling to hold on to his own senses rather than surrender them to his youkai side, but his demon blood was rejoicing and reveled in the unbridled violence.

             _‘He’s got the taste of blood now. There’ll be no reasoning_   _with him unless I take him down,’_  he thought dimly, knowing how crazed an inu-youkai in a blood-rage could get.

            :Challenge beta-male,: Yukio growled. :Lesser-male submit.:

            :Lesser-male challenge beta-male. Defeat beta-male.:

            “I don’t think so,” he answered aloud.

            They both leaped at the same time, their bodies colliding in mid-air. Miroku took a swing, but his move was too predictable. Yukio easily avoided it and kicked with one leg, kneeing Miroku in the stomach and sending him smashing into the kitchen table.

            The table cracked and fell to the floor in pieces.

            ‘ _Hmm, not my day for tables,’_  he mused.

            The blow didn’t stop the younger male however, and he leaped to his feet, snarling and baring his teeth. They circled again, each looking for an opportunity to get the better of his opponent.

            “You can’t beat me. You’ve never had to fight in a real fight in your entire life. You say I’m weak and soft? Have you looked in the mirror lately?” he growled.

            “You don’t know anything about what I’ve had to fight for. You haven’t got a clue,” Miroku snapped back.

            “Yeah. Things like which car should you buy with  ** _Otou-san’s_**  money or whether or not you should get that second Rolex.”

            “Buying a car is better than asking to  ** _sleep with my mommy and daddy_**  when I’m over 400 years old!” Miroku sneered, moving in and trying for a belly blow. He missed, but Yukio didn’t and the younger hanyou went crashing to the floor.

            “When you’ve buried your mate of 230 years, you can come to me and sit in judgment of my choices.”

            Knowing that he couldn’t believe a word Miroku said while he was like this didn’t ease the sting of his hateful words any, and Yukio was fast beginning to not care about the consequences of beating his brother to a pulp.

            “Oh yeah, and what a prize she was. Chose to die rather than stay with your pathetic ass,” Miroku taunted, crouching on all fours and ready to spring.

            “You leave Miaka out of this,” he growled.  _‘You’re_   ** _really_**   _pushing it, otouto._   _Blood-rage or no blood-rage, you’re really starting to piss me off.’_

            “What? Don’t like to be reminded of how you ran home to Mom and Dad and bawled like a baby for twenty years?”

_‘That’s it. Fuck you. You’re going down.’_

            “Shut up and fight, asshole.”

            Miroku smiled eagerly. “With pleasure.”

            No more words were spoken as they came at each other, slashing and snarling. Both landed blows and both bled freely, but it was obvious that Yukio was the more skilled and powerful of the two of them. Even in the heat of the battle, one small part of Yukio’s brain remained detached and fed him little cautions and calls for reason. This alone kept him from doing his younger brother serious harm as they rent and tore at each other until their clothes were in tatters.

            Yukio knew Miroku was tiring and decided to pour on the pressure. If he could get the younger male down, he could catch him by the throat and end the fight. It looked like Miroku was going to feint to the left and he was preparing for it when his mother’s scream split the room.

             _‘Okaa-san!’_  he thought, realizing that she must have just come in to find her two inu-hanyou sons ripping each other to pieces.

            He turned his head to see her standing in the doorway and his momentary distraction gave Miroku an opening. His brother surged forward, claws extended and went right for his throat. His mother screamed again, a warning and a plea, and he saw the movement from the corner of his eye. He rotated his head and body at the last moment, and Miroku’s claws slashed down the side of his face and neck, but missed the jugular.

            The blow made him spin from his own momentum and he fell to his knees. He braced for the impact of Miroku continuing his assault, but a snarling blur of black and silver came tearing into the room before it could come. He heard a resounding crash and knew that his father had heard his mother’s screams and had run to her side.

            “Yukio! Yukio, baby!” his mother cried, her hands on his shoulders.

            “Insolent pup! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” his father roared at his younger brother, and he looked up to see that Inuyasha had pinned Miroku to the far wall by his throat.

             _‘Oh good. Otou-san is here. He’ll take care of Miroku,_ ’ he thought with relief, stamping down the frustrated yowling of his demon blood.

            His relief was short-lived however, when Miroku refused to submit to his father, kicked up with both legs and bit into Inuyasha’s wrist.

            “Inuyasha! Miroku!” Kagome gasped in horror, even as Inuyasha growled and threw his youngest inu-hanyou son to the ground.

            When Miroku rose to his feet, his eyes were red and the stripes were back on his face. Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed and he braced for a fight.

            “Otou-san, he’s gone mad!” Yukio informed him. “He’s convinced the new pup will replace us all and he wants to overthrow you so Okaa-san will have to obey him.”

            He saw Inuyasha’s jaw clench and the imperceptible nod he gave that showed he had grasped the situation.

            “Get her out of here,” his father ordered.

            “No!” Kagome protested. “No! Miroku stop this! Please!”

            Miroku turned red eyes to his mother and snarled. Kagome gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief, and Inuyasha slammed himself into the younger hanyou, breaking his eye contact with Kagome and sending him reeling across the kitchen floor, scattering the glass and spilled coffee.

            “Don’t look away from me, pup. I’m your opponent!” Inuyasha warned. “Yukio, get your mother out of here. Take her to the shrine!”

            “No!” she refused again, even as he was getting to his feet and taking hold of her arm.

            “Do it!” : ** _Obey leader-male!_** : “ ** _NOW!!!_** ”

            He didn’t give his mother any more time to resist. Instead he picked her up and carried her bridal-style out of the house. He’d gone without his signet ring, but he didn’t care if someone saw his blurry form as he leaped forward and raced for the shrine.

            “No, no, no, no! No! Inuyasha! Inuyasha!” Kagome screamed. “Take me back! Yukio, take me back to your father!”

            “I can’t, Okaa-san. I can’t disobey a direct order from the alpha-male,” he replied as he jumped across the street and hit the shrine stairs at a dead run.

            “But Miroku! He’s going to hurt Miroku!” she sobbed, then looked more closely at him. “Oh! Oh my god! Oh my god! Look what he did to you!”

            He put her down on the shrine grounds and knelt with her because she didn’t seem capable of standing.

            “I’m fine. They’re just scratches.”

            “Your father used to have belly wounds that went right through him and claimed they were just scratches!”

            She started crying as she touched the gashes on his cheek and neck, wounds that were still bleeding freely and staining what was left of his white shirt.

            “Oh. Oh my god. Oh my god…”

            He tried to get her to stand. “C’mon, Okaa-san, let’s go to see Mama-baachan.”

            “He hurt you, my baby. Oh my God, he hurt you. You’re bleeding everywhere!” she choked, gasping for breath.

            “Okaa-san, breathe! Please breathe!”

            His mother was starting to hyperventilate, and he gave up trying to get her to stand and just let her crumple back down to the concrete.

            “Breathe, Okaa. Breathe,” he soothed, rubbing her shoulders.

            She drew great heaving breaths and held onto his thigh with one hand.

            “I... I... What  ** _happened??_** ” she demanded.

            “I don’t know. I got back from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and he was in a pissy mood. He started ranting about how this pup would be a biological child and replace all of us adopted pups.”

            “But that’s  ** _insane!_**  I know he’s been upset since Inuyasha and I started trying to have a pup, but we’ve tried to make sure he knew it wasn’t because we valued our own pup over any of you.”

            He shook his head, cradling her in his arms as she continued to gasp and shiver.

_‘She’s in shock. I have to get her inside...’_

            “I know, and that’s what I told him, but he wouldn’t listen. Then he challenged me for position of beta-male and attacked me.”

            “And now he’s going after Inuyasha...” she sobbed.

            He nodded, his face grave.

            “But he doesn’t stand a chance! Inuyasha will tear him to pieces!”

            “Otou-san won’t hurt him. You know he won’t.”

            “He may have no choice! Yukio, take me back! Please take me back. I may be the only one who can reach him!”

            He refused. “I can’t. The alpha-male gave me a direct order to bring you here. It’s not safe there. Trust Otou-san. He’ll do everything he can to make sure Miroku comes out okay.”

            “But he’s going berserk! Look what he did to you! He could have... he could have... oh my God, he could have...” She started hyperventilating again.

            “Okaa-san, please! Calm down. I’m alright. Please calm down. Miroku will be fine. Otou-san will take care of him.”

            “ ** _I can’t lose another pup like this!!_** ”

            She weakly tried to pull out of his grasp and he was afraid to hold onto her because he didn’t want to hurt her, but at the same time, he didn’t want to let her go.

            “Okaa-san, please...” he begged.  _‘She’s flashing back to Hiro, and the day Otou-san had to kill him...’_

            “Who is there? What is going on?” Jii-chan’s voice asked as he came out of one of the smaller shrine outbuildings.

            “Jii-chan! Jii-chan, get Mama-baachan!” he cried.

            “Yukio? Kagome? Kami-sama, you’re bleeding! Ieeeeee! Mama!!” his great-grandfather yelled and dashed for the house.

            “I have to get back to them,” Kagome said brokenly, trying to get to her feet, but having to settle for merely rising to her knees. Then suddenly she jerked and cried out, collapsing once again to the pavement.

            “Okaa-san?”

            “The baby!” she replied. “The baby is…” She jerked again, gasping in pain and grabbed her abdomen.

            “Okaa-san??” he asked again, a feeling of panic starting to take hold.

            “Kagome!” Mama-baachan cried as she came running out of the house. “What happened? You just dropped me off a few minutes ago? Oh Kami-sama! Yukio what happened?”

            “Miroku and I got into a fight. I’m fine, but he went after Otou-san. Otou-san had me bring Okaa-san here.”

            “Oh dear God. You’re covered in blood.”

            “I said I’m fine, but Okaa-san…”

            Another spasm shook his mother and she let out an anguished cry.

            “Kagome!” Mama-baachan called.

            “Okaa-san!”

            “Mama! Mama, the baby!”

            Mama-baachan put her hand on his mother’s lower abdomen and felt the spasms as Kagome doubled over and moaned in pain.

            “Mama-baachan,” he asked worriedly.

            “The spasms are close together. It’s possible the upset has triggered labor.”

            “Labor? No! It’s too soon! The pup still has almost two months to go!”

            “We have to get her to the hospital now. I’ll call an ambulance.”

            She moved to rise to her feet, but Yukio stopped her. “No. She has to go to Hirata.”

            “Hirata? That’s just a clinic!”

            He shook his head. “You only think it’s a clinic. It’s actually a youkai hospital. Okaa-san has to go there because her pup is a hanyou.”

            “But Hirata is way across town. The University of Tokyo Hospital is much closer,” she argued.

            His mother shuddered and groaned as another contraction hit her.

            ‘Hold on, Okaa-san! Hold on!’

            He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the cell phone that had miraculously survived the fight. Flipping it open, he hit #2 on the one-touch speed-dial.

            “Nishitaisho,” came Uncle’s voice across the line.

            “Uncle! It’s Yukio. We have an emergency! We need a helicopter at the shrine. Okaa-san’s gone into premature labor!”

            There was a ten second delay, then his uncle’s voice replied, “It is done.”

            “Thank you!”

            He hung up the phone and tossed it away as he grabbed his mother’s shoulders and pulled her back to him.

            “Did you hear that, Okaa? Uncle is sending a helicopter. It will be here very soon. You just need to hold on until then.”

            Another contraction wracked her body and he felt it this time, and smelled the scent of her fear and pain.

            “No. No this can’t be happening...” she sobbed.

            “Kagome... Kagome, listen to me. You have to calm down. Your continued upset is only making this worse,” Mama-baachan implored.

            “Mama, it hurts!”

            “I know, baby. I know,” his grandmother soothed, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping his mother’s brow.

            Another contraction made her gasp and curl into herself. “Oh God... No... No...”

            “Kagome, even if this baby is born now, it will still live. Premature infants survive all the time. Even ones born earlier than this. Your baby will be okay,” Mama-baachan assured her.

            “Kagome...” Jii-chan cried, joining them.

            “She’s going into labor. Yukio called for help. They’re sending a helicopter,” Mama-baachan explained. “I’m going to go with her. You need to stay here and wait for Souta to get back from school. When he does, bring him to Hirata Medical Center.”

            “But that’s just a clinic!”

            She cast a glance up at him and he nodded. “Apparently not. Yukio says it’s a youkai hospital.”

            “Ah,” Jii-chan replied.

            “I need Inuyasha. Where is Inuyasha?” Kagome pleaded, sweating hard and clenching her fists.

            Yukio started to remind her that his father was dealing with Miroku, but a quick look into her dilated, panicked eyes made him think better of it.

            “Okaa, just breathe and calm down. Please. Otou-san will be here just as soon as he can, but you have to relax. Help is on the way.”

            Another wave went through her and he saw her face contort with pain.

            ‘Okaa-san, please hold on.’

            “Inu... Inuyasha. It hurts!”

            “Shhh, baby. I know. I know. I want you to hold onto my hand and squeeze as hard as you can every time you feel pain, okay?” Mama-baachan offered.

            “Oh... okay...”

            His mother took Mama-baachan’s hand, and he raised his eyes to meet his grandmother’s frightened ones. He had no doubt that the same fear was mirrored in his own eyes and he tried very hard to quell his growing concern. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nose, using a relaxation technique that Miroku’s namesake had taught him centuries ago. With his eyes closed, he could focus on his other senses and he listened carefully. If he tried hard, he could hear the pup’s heartbeat thundering under his mother’s. It was still strong and steady, if a bit too fast.

_‘It’s alive. I can hear the heartbeat. Keep beating little one. Stay with us.’_

            His mother’s breath was hot against his cheek, coming in little puffs that increased every time she had a contraction, but he willed himself to be quiet and still as if his calm would telegraph into her and keep her safe. He was never so glad to hear the tell-tale whirr and beat of a helicopter as it appeared in the airspace over the shrine just a short ten minutes later.

            “Help is here, Okaa-san,” he told her, opening his eyes to see the black Eurocopter hovering over them.

            “Does it have room to land?” Mama-baachan asked, covering her head as the wind kicked up from the blades whipped around them.

            He nodded. “Yeah. It’ll land in the middle of the shrine grounds. When it does, I’ll grab Okaa-san and take her over there. You follow right behind me. Remember to keep your head down.”

            She nodded that she understood, and they waited anxiously as the helicopter set down in the middle of the shrine.  
Yukio was up and moving the moment it was on the ground, his mother in his arms. He heard the slap of his grandmother’s footfalls following shortly behind and he knew she was close at his heels.

            “She has to go to Hirata!” he told the pilot, who nodded, his purple eyes revealing his youkai blood.

            Mama-baachan slipped into the rear seat as he strapped his mother into the front passenger seat. A streak of white zipped by him and he looked to see Kirara in her kitten form seated in the back next to his grandmother. She mewed plaintively and he just shook his head. If the firecat wanted to go along, he wasn’t about to stop her.

            “Yukio...” Kagome sobbed, her eyes terrified and it broke his heart.

            He kissed her forehead and squeezed her hand. “You’re being taken to the hospital. I’ll get Otou-san and we’ll be there as soon as we can. Mama-baachan is going with you. Kirara too. Don’t be afraid. Everything’s going to be alright now.”

            She gave him a frightened nod and he ducked his head and backed off, closing the helicopter door firmly. Then he ran to the sidelines and waited as the Eurocopter took off and sped away in the direction of the hospital.

            “I’m going to go get my father,” he told Jii-chan, not waiting for the old man to answer him.

            He snatched up his cell phone and leaped off the shrine steps, bounding over cars and people to get to Tokyo House. When he arrived, it was obvious that the fight between father and son had escalated. The kitchen was a wreck and he followed the trail of smashed furniture and blood down the hallway to the sunroom where a huge blood-stained hole in the glass wall suggested that someone had been thrown through it.

            He found Inuyasha and Miroku facing off in the back yard. Both were bloody messes but he could tell that all the wounds were superficial. His father appeared to have more injuries, but Miroku was the one looking worse for wear.

             _‘The blood lust is still on him. He’s like Otou-san when he turns full youkai._   _Stupid_   _idiot._   _He’ll keep fighting until he can’t fight anymore, and he’s too young and untrained to keep it locked down...’_

            He was about to call out when Miroku lunged and made a wild swing, and he watched as his father moved  ** _into_**  the blow, letting it graze across his arm and draw blood.

             _‘What the? He’s_   ** _letting_**   _Miroku hit him? What the fuck?’_

            “You’re getting slow, old man!” Miroku taunted.

            Inuyasha just laughed. “You only think so, pup. You still think you can beat me?”

            “Looks like you’re bleeding more than I am, jiji.”

_‘Jiji? You asshole! How dare you call Otou-san that!’_

            “Heh. You think that means anything? If you wanna be pack-leader, pup, you gotta learn to take a little  ** _pain!_** ”

            Inuyasha struck, proving that he’d lost none of his strength and speed, and landed a punch right to Miroku’s ribcage, sending the younger inu-hanyou crashing to the ground, but rather than follow it up with a crushing blow, he danced backwards, easing up.

             _‘He’s toying with him... he knows Miroku hasn’t got a prayer. That pup’s never been_   _in_   _a real fight in his life, and he’s barely swung his sword out of practice. I think he’s killed two youkai with it, if that.’_

            Miroku was still down so Yukio took the opportunity to call out to his father.

            “Otou-san! Otou-san! Okaa-san! The pup!” he yelled, backing it up with inu-youkai. :Leader-male! Mother-female! Pup! Danger!:

            Inuyasha turned to face him and he saw the emotions morph across his father’s face: rage, fear, surprise, then cold-tempered anger. Behind him, Miroku was getting to his feet, and Yukio began to shout a warning to his father, but suddenly Inuyasha whirled and slammed Miroku right in the chin with a powerful right hook.

            “I don’t have time to play with you anymore,” he said as the younger hanyou went flying backwards and smashed into the side of the garage, cracking the siding with his head.

            They waited to see if Miroku would get up, but he didn’t.

             _‘Probably out cold._   _He’s going to have a bitch of a headache when he wakes up. Serves him right.’_

            He ran to his father’s side, noting the dilated pupils and heaving breath.

            “Where is Kagome?” Inuyasha growled.

            “She went into labor. Uncle sent a helicopter and she’s been taken to Hirata. Mama-baachan went with her,” he blurted breathlessly.

            “Let’s go.”

            They were turning to leave when Tomo appeared around the front hedges.

            “Kami-sama, what happened here?” his brother exclaimed.

            Yukio took a brief glance at his watch. It was 3 o’clock on the dot. Funny how the whole world went to hell in less than an hour. One look at his father proved that Inuyasha was in no condition to have a conversation, so he took over.

            “Tomo. Miroku attacked me and Otou-san...”

            “What?” the bat-hanyou gasped, shocked.

            Yukio shook his head. “I need you to listen, because we have to go. Miroku thinks the new pup will replace us all because it will be a biological child so he challenged for alpha-male.”

            “That’s insane!”

            “I know. But Okaa-san saw us fighting and she’s gone into premature labor.”

            “NO!”

            He put up a hand, ignoring his father’s growing growls. “She’s at Hirata now. We’re going there...”

            “Well, let’s go...”

            “I need you to  ** _stay here_**  and be here when Miroku wakes up. Give Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga to him when he does, and bring him with you to Hirata. He’ll know the way. Also, bring some of Okaa-san’s clothes and toiletries. She’ll probably need them.”

            Inuyasha snarled. “We go  ** _NOW!_** ”

            “Go. Go quickly. I’ll stay here and bring him when he wakes up,” Tomo agreed.

            He took his brother’s hand briefly. “Thank you. Come as soon as you can.”

            “We will.”

            Inuyasha, tired of waiting, was already headed off and Yukio rushed to catch up. Neither of them had their concealment spells, but they didn’t need them as they leaped from building to building and car to car, traveling faster than human eyes could track.

            His father hit the doors of the hospital so hard they almost shattered before they could slide open for him, and he went tearing into the lobby, past the human-looking receptionist, to the triage intake. The only thing that stopped him was the Wall of Uncle, who reached out one hand and grabbed hold of his half-brother, halting him in his tracks.

            “Sesshoumaru! You asshole! Let me go! Kagome’s in there!!” his father screamed.

            “She is within. The doctor is with her. You should stay out here and out of the way,” Uncle informed him calmly.

            He came careening to a stop next to his Aunt Rin, his own breath coming in panting gasps. Mama-baachan was there with Kirara too, huddled in a chair, her hands clenched over her heart as the firecat sat in her lap. None of them bothered with a concealment spell because a permanent Spell of Normalcy was cast over the entire building, as well as numerous lesser illusion spells meant to mask the building’s true purpose.

            “They just brought her in ten minutes ago,” his aunt told him, her face a picture of calm serenity.

             _‘I suppose after being mated to Uncle for four centuries, she’s seen and done just about everything,’_  he thought, and her peaceful demeanor bled over into him. He wished the same could be said of his father, but it looked like Uncle had him well in hand, cursing notwithstanding.

            “We haven’t heard anything yet, but they were ready for her when she got here. We called ahead.”

            “Thank you.”

            “All we can do now is wait,” his aunt finished and he had to agree. “You look terrible. What happened?”

            “Miroku challenged me for beta-male, then challenged Otou-san for alpha.”

            “Miroku? The inu-hanyou?” Aunt Rin repeated, surprised. “Isn’t he...” She stopped and looked at her mate who nodded gravely. “Oh. Oh I see...”

            “Yeah.  ** _Her_**  son.” He wouldn’t say the inu-youkai bitch’s name since she refused to say his brother’s.

            “No, not her son. He is Kagome and Inuyasha’s son.  ** _She_**  was merely the vessel that carried him,” his aunt corrected gently.

            “Well, he’s got  ** _issues_**  with that,” he replied and went on to tell her and Uncle all about Miroku’s words and the reasons for the fight.

            “Well, if it’s any consolation, I know that any one of her three full inu-youkai pups would trade  ** _her_**  for Inuyasha and Kagome as parents in a heartbeat. There is no love lost between mother and pups in that family,” Rin said when he was finished.

            “That’s what  ** _I_**  tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

            “Hot-headed and impetuous like his father,” Uncle commented.

            “Oi!” Inuyasha growled.

            The conversation would have continued and most likely have degenerated into a pissing match, but a youkai in a doctor’s coat interrupted them.

            “Fushikenwa-san?”

            Inuyasha was in his face in a heartbeat. “That’s me. What is happening to my mate?”

            The doctor gave him a placating smile. “Your mate is fine. I’m Doctor Sawamatsu. I’ve been treating her.”

            “And the pup?”

            “The pup is fine too. It was a false alarm.”

            “False alarm?” they repeated.

            “Yes. Braxton-Hicks contractions can closely imitate labor, especially when the mother is under stress.”

            Yukio saw the wheels turning behind his father’s eyes. “So... the pup’s not coming early.”

            The doctor shook his head. “No, the little one is right where he’s supposed to be, inside his mother for another six weeks.”

            Inuyasha’s legs abruptly gave out and he sat down on the floor, his eyes dazed. “I’m glad.”

            Yukio approached. “Doctor, you said my mother is alright?”

            “Yes. Her blood pressure is a little higher than we’d like it to be, but that’s understandable under the circumstances. I was going to ask you what triggered this episode, but looking at the state the two of you are in, I can guess that myself. Do either of you need medical attention?”

            “Bah! These are just scratches,” Inuyasha insisted, recovering from his shock and rising to his feet. “I’m fine. I want to see my mate.”

            “We’ve given her a sedative and she’s resting right now, but...”

            He was gone before the doctor could finish his sentence, the ward doors swinging behind him.

            “Don’t worry, he’ll find her by scent,” Yukio assured him.

            “Ah, yes, inu-youkai noses.”

            Yukio tapped his nose. “They’re the best.”

            “When can my daughter come home, Doctor?” Mama-baachan asked as she joined them, Kirara still in her arms.

            “We’re going to keep her overnight for observation, but if everything seems fine in the morning, I have no problems with releasing her.”

            Mama-baachan sighed with relief. “That is good to hear. Thank you, Doctor.”

            “I’ll want to her to rest and take it easy for the remainder of her pregnancy. So that means no more rough-housing and fighting,” the doctor admonished.

            Yukio lowered his ears and nodded. “We understand. Thank you, for everything. We’ll give my father a few minutes then go to see her. Don’t worry, we’ll drag him out of here so you won’t have to deal with him all night.”

            The doctor chuckled. “He can’t be any worse than some of the bull-youkais we get in here sometimes. Unless you have any questions, I have other patients that need my attention.”

            “No, that’s fine. Thank you, doctor,” Aunt Rin replied.

            The doctor bowed and they bowed back, then he retreated back behind the ward doors. Yukio took a deep breath and allowed all the tension he had been feeling to leave his body as he slumped into a chair.

            “Well good news all around. I’m very relieved,” Rin admitted.

            “Me too,” he added.

            “I should have thought about false labor,” Mama-baachan said.

            “You did the right thing. If it hadn’t been a false alarm, the pup would have been in real danger. It was better to be safe than sorry,” Aunt Rin comforted.

            “Yes, Mama-baachan. You did exactly the right thing saying Okaa-san needed to come to the hospital,” he concurred.

            Even Kirara added her own mew of agreement and he could see that his grandmother felt better.

            “Thank you,” she said softly.

            “You’re welcome.”

            They fell silent, each caught up in their own thoughts. Deep inside, Yukio knew that what happened with Miroku, and Miroku himself, would have to be dealt with, but for now he just wanted to count his blessings and thank whatever god looked over youkai and hanyous for his mother and unborn sibling’s safety. Everything else could wait until later.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is a long one so be prepared. Take a bathroom break beforehand.

Chapter Forty  

           

            When Miroku woke it was to a world of pain. Literally  ** _everything_**  hurt and he felt as if he had just gone twelve rounds with a bull-youkai and the bull-youkai had won. Dimly he tried to piece together the picture of his memory, clearing away the pain-filled haze to sift through the fuzzy images that played on the outskirts of his muddled mind.

_‘I remember being angry. Everyone was so damned excited about Okaa-san’s pup, and I just wanted to scream and tear something to pieces. Then Aniki came home and…’_

            He flinched as the memory flooded back. His brother, himself, locked in combat, claws slashing, fangs gnashing, blood…

_‘Kami-sama. I attacked Yukio. What the hell was I thinking?’_

            More memories rolled before his mind’s eye, images of smashed furniture and the kitchen floor dark with blood and coffee, the sound of his mother’s scream echoing in his head.

            ‘ _Okaa-san. Okaa-san was there and saw us fighting… then Otou-san came…_ ’ He gasped, his eyes flaring open.  _‘I… I challenged the alpha-male. I attacked him…’_

            He tried to move but pain exploded behind his eyes and he saw stars.

_‘I attacked him and he kicked my ass into next week.’_

            He let himself relax for a moment, waiting for the pain to subside, and tried to take stock of his surroundings. Scent was the first sense he regained and that told him he was still home, or more specifically in the back yard. He smelled blood, but most of it was his own with some of his brother’s and father’s laced into it, and he smelled Tomo close by.

            ‘ _Tomo is here. That’s right, he was supposed to come at three to visit with Otou-san and Okaa-san.’_

            He groaned and turned his head towards the scent, cracking his eyes open to see the willowy figure of his older brother leaning over him.

            “Don’t try to move,” Tomo’s light tenor told him. “You’re pretty badly beaten up.”

            “Ugh,” was all he could manage.

            A hand came to cup him under his neck and shoulders and guided him into a sitting position, then something was being pressed to his mouth and he opened his aching jaw to accept it. A pill was pushed through his numb lips, followed shortly by a sip of lukewarm green tea.

            “800 mg Ibuprofen,” Tomo said. “Here, take another. I think you’re going to need it.”

            He nodded, and accepted another pill and more tea to wash it down, then Tomo lowered him to the grass and he stared up at the tall trees, following the movement of the branches as they swayed in the wind. It was then that he noticed a weight across his chest and recognized it as Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga.

_‘They gave me my sword…’_

            “I went into a blood-rage, didn’t I,” he said tonelessly, his hand reflexively gripping the familiar hilt.

            “Apparently so,” Tomo answered.

             _‘Shit. I lost it and just started attacking. I’m no better than a wild dog that kills his own pack-pups once he gets the taste of blood.’_

            He didn’t remember all of it now, but he knew he would eventually. The memories of his blood-rages always took a while to reassemble themselves.

_‘Oh goody, more memories to scourge myself with and remind me of how inadequate I am.’_

            “How bad?” he asked.

            “Both Aniki and Otou-san are banged up but they’ll be okay. The house took the worst of it.”

            “Okaa-san?”

            He saw Tomo’s jaw clench and felt his heart sink.  _‘No… I didn’t hurt her, did I? I don’t remember hurting her…’_

            “She couldn’t take the stress in her delicate condition. She’s gone into premature labor. She’s at Hirata now. I’m supposed to bring you over there as soon as you’re able.”

            He gulped, feeling a sick roll in the pit of his stomach.

             _‘Well, that’s it, isn’t it? I attacked the beta and alpha-males and I sent the alpha-female to the hospital. Otou-san will strip me of my rank and kick me out of the pack. It’s no more than I deserve.’_

            He struggled to sit up, but Tomo’s hand pressed him firmly back down and he was in too much pain to fight.

            “Lie still. I know the painkillers haven’t taken effect yet, and I want to talk to you.”

            There was a hard edge to his brother’s voice; something he had never heard come from the bat-hanyou before and he realized, not for the first time, that he really didn’t know much about his older sibling. Tomo had mated and moved out of his parents’ house long before he was even born, and he’d seen little of the slightly built hanyou as he was growing up. What he did remember of him was that Tomo never got angry, never raised his voice, and seemed perfectly content to do nothing but read, listen to music, and sleep all day. He was a writer/editor by trade and more active at night, and had something akin to the bat’s system of sonar which allowed him to see in complete darkness. Bright light hurt his pale eyes and he was almost never without his protective sunglasses these days. Miroku noticed that he wasn’t wearing them now, but then again, it was heavily overcast and would probably rain later.

            “Yukio told me you believe Okaa-san’s new pup will replace us. Would you like to tell me about that?”

            An old pain knotted in his chest and he turned his head away. “Isn’t it obvious? They went to such lengths to have a pup of their own. Us foundlings are just unwanted castoffs they took pity on.”

            “Do you really believe that?”

            He swallowed hard and didn’t answer. He had vivid memories of his biological mother and her three perfect inu-youkai pups. How  ** _She_**  had looked at him…

_‘As if I were no more than a bug to be crushed under **Her**  foot…’_

            He was expecting Tomo to go into a long speech about Inuyasha and Kagome and how they had raised hanyous for the better part of 450 years. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t heard before, and he’d always countered their arguments with the simple reality that they had raised adopted hanyous because up until now they couldn’t  ** _have_**  their own pups. What Tomo actually said took him completely by surprise.

            “My mother killed herself, you know.”

            He turned his head to look at Tomo, his eyes blinking in confusion. The bat-hanyou was seated next to him, his legs up against his chest and his eyes staring straight ahead.

            “I’m not supposed to know that. Okaa-san and Otou-san never told me, but Shippou let it slip one day about how my birth mother tossed herself off a cliff on the way back to her village after I was born.” He paused and picked absently at a blade of grass. “She chose to commit suicide rather than live with the shame of birthing a hanyou. It’s surprising that she didn’t do it before I was born and kill me with her. I suppose I’ll never know why she didn’t. I am a worthless hanyou, after all. There was no reason to spare my life.”

            Miroku could think of nothing to say. In fact he was stunned speechless.

_‘I never knew that...’_

            “But you know,” Tomo continued. “That woman who killed herself. She wasn’t my mother. She was just the means through which I came into this world. I never knew her, and from all accounts she never wanted to know me. She didn’t even look at me after I was born.”

 _‘Like my mother. Okaa-san said **She**  delivered me and put me straight away in Okaa-san’s arms…’_ he thought.

            “No. That woman was not my mother. My mother was the human female who took me still wet from the womb, and wiped my face, and put me to her breast. She was the one who tended me when I was sick and comforted me when I was scared. She was the one who fed me, and guided me, and gave me everything of herself and more.

            “And my father wasn’t the raging bat-youkai who raped a village girl. He was the one who guarded me on my human night when I was helpless and terrified, who went out and searched far and wide for the fruit I liked just so I would have it, and who defended me from all dangers both real and imagined.”

            Tomo looked at him and their eyes met. There was something in those eyes that stared unblinkingly at him: sadness, disappointment and pity.

            ‘ _Pity? Why do you pity me? Am I that pathetic?’_

            “You put too much weight on the value of biological parents. It doesn’t matter how a child came to be with those who love him and raise him, only that he is wanted and adored for who he is. Children belong where they are loved. Can you say that you weren’t loved? That Okaa-san and Otou-san did not cherish and adore you?”

            He shook his head slightly, unable to move it too much because of the pain that still radiated through his skull.

            “Then why do you yearn for the touch and acknowledgement of one to whom you mean nothing? Why do you envy  ** _Her_**  youkai pups? Believe me when I say there is nothing to be envious about. I know this female. She was in Uncle’s court when we lived there during Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi’s reigns. She was arrogant and unpleasant even then, and the years did nothing to improve her disposition.”

            Tomo cocked his head and looked curiously at him.

            “Tell me, do you think any of those youkai pups can depend on her?” he asked, then continued in a straightforward voice, “Answer me this: it’s three o’clock in the morning in the middle of a blizzard and your car has broken down on a deserted Alberta road. Who comes for you?”

            Miroku furrowed his brow. The scenario sounded familiar, and he had a vague memory of hearing about one of his sibs getting stuck out in a blizzard.

            ‘ _Was that Tomo?’_

            The bat-hanyou’s next sentence answered his unspoken question.

            “And you can’t make a phone call because there’s not enough signal, and all Otou-san hears on the other end is your voice and a bunch of static. But he knows that the only reason you’d be calling is because you’re in trouble and you’re out there in that storm. So he goes out in that cold and that snow, and he searches all night until he finds you. And he’s wet and half frozen because  ** _his_**  car got stuck in a snow bank, but that didn’t stop him from searching on foot. And when he finally finds you, his first concern is to make sure  ** _you’re_**  all right, and he huddles with you and warms your hands heedless of the fact that he’s soaked and chilled to the bone. And he won’t let you help him because  ** _he’s_**  the dad and  ** _you’re_**  the pup even though you’re over 400 years old.        

            “Tell me, Miroku, do you think any one of  ** _Her_**  pups could call her and she’d come for them? Or would she just tell them to dig a den then roll over and go back to sleep? Would  ** _She_**  spend all night searching for them  ** _barefoot_**  in the snow?”

            She wouldn’t. In his heart, Miroku knew she wouldn’t.

            He remembered a cold, wet night when he was just ten and his parents were busy with his brother Sai. Itching to prove his worth and skills, he’d gone out to hunt, hoping to bring home dinner and help his father and older brother. He’d ended up taking on a boar, a female with young to boot, and she’d slashed him with her tusks. The wounds weren’t serious, but the scent of his blood had attracted carrion-eaters and hanyou-hunting youkai. His saving grace had been the coming of one of the storms the rainy season was so famous for, and the ensuing downpour had masked his scent.

            Cold, wet, and injured, he’d found a small cave to crawl into to heal and wait out the storm. He knew he was taking a terrible risk because the cave was blind and he would be trapped if an enemy found him. As he huddled in his soaked clothes he remembered his father’s warnings to never allow himself to be cornered, but the storm was brutal and he was just a child who wanted to be dry.

            Terror had surged through him when the shadow had fallen across the cave entrance, and he’d backed all the way in, trying to hide in the darkness, frantically trying to figure out a way to escape if he was attacked. Then he saw a familiar red-clad leg, to be replaced by the bending figure of his father as he peered into the cave, nose sniffing. Somehow, even in the storm, Inuyasha had found him.

            His father came in, sniffing him out immediately, and moved without hesitation towards him. He didn’t speak as he inspected his wounds and reassured himself that his boy was all right. Then he’d gathered him up and wrapped him in his haori, warming him with his body heat and hugging him close. Later he’d get a sound tongue lashing on his irresponsibility and foolishness for going out alone, but right then all there had been was silence and relief that he had been found and was safe.

            In all of his memory, he couldn’t think of a single time his parents hadn’t done everything they could to be there for him. Even on that horrible day when he’d approached his birth mother and  ** _She’d_**  beaten him back, it was Inuyasha who had shielded him with his own body and snarled warnings at the bitch inu-youkai who had dared to hurt his pup.

             _‘They gave me everything and I just spit on it,’_  he thought dejectedly.  _‘Damnit. Damn temper. Damn blood-lust. What am I going to do now?’_

            Tomo shifted next to him and he looked up into the pale eyes. One fine-boned, delicate hand came down to gently brush the hair from his brow.

_‘It’s amazing that hand can even lift Ni-Kenshuga...’_

            “They chose you,” Tomo said firmly. “They didn’t have to take you, but they did. When I was born, hanyous were routinely drowned or left to starve, but I found a home and a family that loved me. You have no idea how lucky we are to have been so cherished and cared for.”

            “I know,” he whispered, forcing his voice past the lump in his throat. “I... What I’ve done... it’s unforgivable. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

            The hand on his head moved down to lightly pat his shoulder. “We are going to gather up some things for Okaa-san, and maybe a change of clothes for Otou-san and Aniki because theirs were in shreds when they ran out of here, and we’re going to go to Hirata and see our mother. Everything else... well, we’ll see now won’t we. How’s the head?”

            “Only pounding instead of splitting,” he admitted.

            “Do you think you can stand?”

            “Do I have a choice?”

            “Not really. I’m anxious to get to the hospital. It’s been forty minutes, and I’m worried about her.”

            “You don’t think the pup...” He stopped. He couldn’t say it. If he’d been the cause of the death of the unborn child... He didn’t even want to  ** _think_**  about what would happen to him.  _‘There would be no hope for me. I’d ask Otou-san to kill me or do it myself.’_

            Tomo shook his head. “Okaa-san was well into her third trimester. Even if the baby was born now, I think it would live. Technology has gotten so much more advanced these days. They save babies born much earlier now.”

            Yes, they did now, didn’t they, and by all accounts the pup was healthy. With luck it would be born without complications.

            Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to sit up, then to slowly rise to his feet. Tomo helped him, offering a steadying hand and a shoulder to lean on as he painfully made his way to the house. He winced when he saw the huge hole in the sunroom glass and remembered how both he and his father had gone crashing through it.

_‘I’ll fix it. Even if he tells me to pack my stuff and get out, I’ll still make sure everything that got damaged is fixed.’_

            The inside of the house wasn’t much better, and he stared at the wreckage that was the kitchen.

_‘Hanae is going to have a fit when she sees this mess and quit on the spot.’_

            “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get Okaa-san’s things,” Tomo offered.

            “Okay,” he agreed and sank into the only chair that wasn’t smashed to pieces.

            Tomo disappeared, leaving him alone in the ransacked room. Slowly he took in the destroyed cappuccino machine, the demolished table, and the puddles of coffee, blood and shattered glass all over the floor.

             _‘I did all of this,’_  he thought numbly. ‘ _Yukio came in and wanted a cup of coffee, and all I could think of was that Okaa-san was still out when she should have been back hours ago, and she’d done nothing but push herself and put herself in danger ever since they started trying to have a pup. And it just made me so mad. Why weren’t we good enough? Why did they need another pup? They’d had 33 of us. Wasn’t that enough?’_

            The ache in his heart grew and he closed his eyes to hold back the tears that threatened.

_‘I spent so long convincing myself that it would never happen. Hanyous can’t have pups. That’s the way it’s always been. I never believed that Okaa-san could actually get pregnant and carry a pup to term. And when she did... all I could see was **Her**  and her prized youkai pups, and me... the half-breed  **She**  had wanted to abort before I was born.’_

            He rubbed his temples, trying to will the headache he still sported to go away. Even with 1600 mg of painkiller, the throbbing had only abated a little bit. He stayed there, waiting for Tomo to return, looking dazedly about the room and rubbing his arms because he was suddenly cold. Tomo found him hugging himself with his head down, his shoulder-length hair hiding his face as he rocked slowly.

            “Here,” Tomo offered gently, handing him a fresh set of clothes. In his other hand he carried two tote bags. One smelled of his mother and the other of his brother and father.

             _‘Must be the clothes and things..._ ’ “Thanks,” he said aloud, and accepted the jeans and T-shirt, smiling at the irony of Tomo choosing a shirt his father had given him a number of years ago.

            Inuyasha had the habit of sending witty T-shirts to his pups on a whim, and Miroku was convinced that his father would buy every single sarcastic T-shirt from the What On Earth catalog, then save them for an occasion where a funny gift was suitable. This particular shirt had been given to him to commemorate his being awarded tenure at the university. It said, “If you can read this, you’re overeducated” in Latin. He’d never forget the shirt Inuyasha had given his sister Natsumi when she graduated from medical school: “Three out of four doctors recommend another doctor.” The shirts had become somewhat of a running joke and they never knew what Inuyasha was going to come up with next.

            Today however, he held the shirt close to his chest, remembering the day his father had sent it to him, and tried not to cry. Wiping his eyes roughly, he pulled himself together and ripped off the ruined shirt he was wearing, then slipped the fresh one over his head. The pants were a little harder to get off because they were stuck to his legs where his blood had dried but he finally managed. Tomo handed him a dampened rag to wipe the blood from his skin and he cleaned up as best he could under the circumstances.

            Once he was dressed in clothes that weren’t a bloody, torn up mess, Tomo handed him Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga and he lashed the sword to his waist through the belt loop. Then he and Tomo made their way out to the garage. He heard the noise immediately and wondered why he hadn’t noticed it before. Carbon dioxide and fuel fumes came spewing out of the garage the moment they opened the door, and he almost went woozy from the stench. Tomo steadied him until his head cleared.

            “What is it?” his brother asked.

            “Gas,” he replied, blinking away the vertigo. “Be glad you don’t have an inu-youkai nose.”

            Tomo nodded and reached into the driver’s side of the Aston Martin to turn off the engine.

            “I wonder why he was in here with the door closed. That wasn’t very smart,” Tomo commented.

            Miroku shook his head. “He probably only planned to turn the car on for a couple of seconds.”

             _‘He fixed it. And I’ll bet he didn’t want me to hear the engine so he kept the door closed. He was in here when Yukio and I were... fighting. He didn’t hear us, but he heard Okaa-san’s scream. He could probably hear her whisper all the way over at the shrine, he’s so attuned to her.’_

             His theory was further supported by the haphazard jumble of tools littered on the concrete floor. Tomo’s hand on his arm brought him out of his thoughts as he was ushered towards a silver BMW parked in another bay.

            “Where are the keys?” Tomo asked him.

            “In the glove compartment,” he replied.

            “Are you up to driving?”

            “No.”

            “Okay.”

            “Sorry, I know how much you hate Tokyo traffic,” he apologized.

            Tomo tossed the tote bags into the back, slipped into the driver’s seat and adjusted it for his height while Miroku got into the passenger seat.

            “Yukio said you’d know the way to the hospital?”

            He nodded. “Yeah. When you get to the end of the driveway, make a left.”

            “Okay,” his brother replied, turning the ignition and putting the car into drive.

            Twenty harrowing minutes later, they pulled into the Hirata parking garage. Tomo grabbed the tote bags and was heading for the elevator when Miroku stopped him.

            “I... I just want to say... no matter what happens... thanks and... and I’m sorry.”

            Tomo gave him a small smile and a pat on his shoulder. “I won’t say it’s okay, because it’s not. But I think it will be okay in the end. I know how you feel and I understand why you feel that way. I’ve lived most of my life knowing my birth mother chose to die rather than live with the knowledge that she gave birth to me. You’ve lived most of your life knowing your birth mother won’t even say your name. Both of us were rejected in the worst way possible by the ones who  ** _should_**  have loved us, but that’s  ** _not our fault_** , and it’s not Okaa-san’s and Otou-san’s fault either. Don’t blame them for what  ** _She_**  did. Don’t dishonor them by putting them in the same category as ** _Her_**. They deserve so much more than that from you.”

            He hung his head, clenching one fist while the other gripped the hilt of his sword. “I... I know.”

            “C’mon. I wanna see Okaa-san,” Tomo said, tugging him towards the open elevator doors.

            He swallowed hard and nodded, following meekly behind with his heart in his throat as Tomo pressed the button for the emergency room floor.

            “Fushikenwa Kagome,” Tomo said to the triage receptionist once they had exited the elevator and approached the desk.

            The young female, a bird-hanyou like their sister Mariko, typed the name into her computer with lightning speed.

            “She’s been moved to the third floor. Room 328. Take the elevator up and turn right,” she said.

            Tomo bowed and took his arm again. “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome.”

            Back in the elevator his palms started to sweat and he almost started whimpering in distress. Tomo gave him another pat but it didn’t seem to help much this time. He touched Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga again and felt a sense of calm wash over him. The sword was not rejecting him, and that fact gave him some small measure of hope.

            “ ** _You worthless, stinking son-of-a-whore!_** _”_  Eri screamed at him as he and Tomo entered the waiting room at the entrance of the main ward.

            He didn’t have time to even register her words before she slapped him clear across the face, raking his cheek with her claws and sending his already pounding head splitting again.

            “I’m in the middle of a meeting with reps from Daimaru when I get a phone call that my  ** _mother_**  is in the  ** _hospital_**  and that  ** _you_**  put her there!”

            He did not retaliate or speak, but kept his head down and refused to look at her as blood dripped down his face from the fresh wounds.

            “That is enough,” Uncle’s voice said firmly, and he cast his eyes upward to see the taiyoukai standing beside his sister, one hand clamped on her shoulder.

            “But...” Eri argued.

            “It is his father’s responsibility to deal with him.”

            Eri hissed and flashed her fangs. “You are so lucky, you prick. If Mom had lost the baby I would have disemboweled you myself!”

            Her harsh words actually brought relief and he could not stop the sigh that escaped his lips.

_‘So Okaa and the pup are all right. I’m so glad...’_

            “Leave him alone, Eri,” Tomo defended, lightly pushing him forward.

            He went willingly, keeping his head and his ears down, but he couldn’t help but look at the small crowd gathered in the room, recognizing a number of his siblings. Aside from Uncle, Aunt Rin and Eri, he saw Izayoi with Tetsukazu, Shippou and his mate, Hikaru, Asame and Mariko, and he was sure others were on the way but hadn’t arrived yet. Mama-baachan, Jii-chan, Souta and Kirara were also there, but seated slightly apart from the others. Yukio was closest to the ward doors, still dressed in his torn trousers but someone had given him a physician’s scrub shirt. When their eyes met, Yukio very pointedly turned his shoulder to him.

             _‘Refuses to look at me. I don’t blame him. They’ll all turn their backs pretty soon once Otou-san kicks me out of the pack. None of them will acknowledge me anymore. What I most feared, I brought down on myself.’_

            The ward doors were presented to him and he knew he had to pass through. He had no doubts that his father waited for him on the other side, but he dreaded what was to come. He hesitated at the large, swinging doors a bit too long because a set of hands pressed against the back of his shoulders and pushed him roughly through. He stumbled and almost fell to his knees, but recovered and regained his footing quickly. The person who had pushed him through the doors had not followed and he found himself alone in the stark white hallway.

            He stared, blinking slowly at the too bright walls and tiled floor, wondering which one of the rooms that lined the corridor was his mother’s. The first room to the left was marked 301 so he began walking, past the nurses’ station, following the room numbers as they counted up until he saw 326.

_‘Next one’s Okaa-san’s...’_

            He didn’t even get to the door before it opened and he was faced with the crossed-armed figure of his father blocking the entrance. Inuyasha was still dressed in the bloodied, ragged clothes he had run from the house in, but it looked like someone had cleaned and treated his wounds. He tried to look past his father to the room within, but Inuyasha moved to block his view.

            Neither moved for a long moment, each regarding the other warily. Miroku knew what was expected of him, but he had no idea if it would be enough. By the laws of the pack, he had committed horrible crimes and it was ultimately the right of the alpha to decide his fate and punishment. The very fact that Inuyasha would not let him see his mother spoke volumes to him, and his already pounding heart beat faster in his chest. Finally, when he knew he was reaching the limits of his father’s patience, he raised his chin, bared his throat in submission and waited. He didn’t have to wait long.

            Inuyasha growled and he felt a clawed hand grab his neck. The fingers were tight but not painful, nor did they crush his windpipe or the claws cut into his skin. He was merely being held in a somewhat uncomfortable way for several seconds; then the hand clamped down.

            ‘ _This is it..._ ’ he thought, willing himself to be still and accept whatever his father chose to do.  _‘If he means to kill me that is his right...’_

            Another growl came from Inuyasha, low and menacing, but he did not react. An odd calm had settled over him and he closed his eyes. It was easier than he thought it would be, but then he was tired. Tired of being second best. Tired of being rejected by the ones who should love him.

            Without much warning, Inuyasha’s hand switched to the back of his neck to grab him by the scruff and he was literally dragged down the hallway to an empty room. The door slammed shut behind them as he was shoved to the cold linoleum floor, the hand back on his throat and pressing down. Inuyasha was growling again and snarling above him, the hot breath very close to his face. He couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped, but he rolled to expose his belly and further lifted his chin to bare more of his throat.

            “Idiot pup. You’d let me kill you, wouldn’t you?” his father accused. “You wouldn’t raise a single finger in your own defense.”

            He didn’t reply. He didn’t need to because the answer was obvious. A moment later he heard his father sigh heavily, then the pressure on his throat eased up.

            “We need to talk, pup.”

            He opened his eyes to blink confusedly at his father when Inuyasha took him by the shoulders and dragged him across the floor to the nearest wall. Then Inuyasha sat down with his back to the wall, gently lifted him under his torso, and pulled him into a strong embrace. Powerful arms wrapped around him, cradling him as his cheek was pressed to his father’s shoulder and he was held like a small child in need of comforting.

            It was so drastically different from what he had been expecting that he didn’t believe what was happening at first. He stayed perfectly still and silent, afraid to move or speak lest he discover that it was some kind of twisted joke, but then he remembered that his father would never, ever be so cruel and hateful.

             _‘He isn’t anything like **Her**.’_

            He shifted a little, bringing one hand up to curl against Inuyasha’s chest and Inuyasha responded by pulling him closer and tucking him further against his body the way he used to do when Miroku was just a little whelp.

            “Otou?” he whispered in a small voice.

            “It’s okay, pup. I’ve got you. You’re all right now.”

            The words echoed across time and into his heart. They were the first words his father had spoken to him all those centuries ago when he was huddled in the cave wet, wounded and scared, and his father had found him: _“It’s okay, pup. Otou’s got you. It’s all right now.”_

            Suddenly he realized that he wasn’t being rejected.

_‘I’m not… He’s not… He’s not throwing me out of the pack…’_

            The shock made him tremble. He had been so convinced of his fate that to now be faced with something so unexpected and unbelievable was difficult for him to understand. By all rights, Inuyasha should have stripped him of his position in the pack and told him to get out, but his father had hugged him instead and told him he was going to be all right.

_‘All right? How can any of this be all right?’_

It was more than he had dared to hope for, and more than he deserved. A shiver ran through him, a slight quaking as his frayed nerves began to go into overload and his mind scrambled to comprehend how his father could be so forgiving.

            “Otou…” he whispered shakily, struggling to stay in control of his run-away feelings.

            :Pup safe. Pup with leader-male,: Inuyasha replied in inu-youkai, stroking his hair and running his fingers over his ears.

            The gentle touch cracked him open and he lost his battle as he began to cry, the dam holding back his emotions breaking and everything came flooding out. Great, hiccupping sobs ripped their way out of his throat as he wept bitterly, surrendering to the torrent of relief and remorse that took over.

            :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry,: he whined, whimpering and groveling for his alpha’s pardon.

            Inuyasha barked a response, nipped and then licked his temple, and the acceptance only made him cry harder. He reached for his father and clung to him, holding onto the bulwark that had always been his safety and protection; the male who would shield him with his own body and guard him when he was weak and frightened.

            “Otou. Otou.”

            Inuyasha was the only father he had ever known, and he had been so terrified of losing his place that he had almost brought his worst fears down onto himself. But Inuyasha knew, just as he had always known what nightmares kept his son awake or what shadows lived behind his eyes, that Miroku’s problem resided in his fear of being abandoned and cast aside, and he would not turn his back on him. After everything, even after he had attacked his brother and the alpha himself, and sent the alpha-female to the hospital, even after all of that, his father refused to reject him. His father still loved him.

            “It’s okay, pup. You’re gonna be okay,” Inuyasha promised, rocking him as he wept.

            But it wasn’t okay. How could it ever be okay when he had been so blind and hurtful? When he had turned his claws on his own pack, rent and slashed at the ones who loved him, and repaid their love with anger and pain. He deserved punishment and exile, not the warm, strong arms of his father wrapped around him and his tender voice in his ear. He was utterly stunned and humbled by the depth of the love being shown to him, and he knew he would spend months, if not years, trying to make up for the damage he had done.

            He cried for a long time, sobbing until the bloody shirt beneath his cheek was soaked with his tears, and he thought his nose was going to explode if he didn’t blow it soon. Inuyasha obliged him by reaching up to the made bed next to them and ripping off part of the top sheet for him to use as a handkerchief, then he also yanked down the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders because he was shivering. He huddled in the blanket, sniffling occasionally, and pressed close to his father’s chest long after he had run out of tears.

            Inuyasha did not speak or push him to talk or get up. He merely held him tight and let him cry until he was finished. Lying there in Inuyasha’s arms, he felt a safety and comfort that he had only experienced when he was cuddled just like this with his parents' scent in his nostrils and their heartbeats in his ear.

             _‘This is what Yukio was trying to recapture when he wanted to sleep with Otou-san and Okaa-san again,’_  he realized.  _‘He wanted this feeling that nothing could ever hurt him because they were there. Oh, Aniki, I understand. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’_

            “I’m sorry,” he choked through hoarse lips, throat swollen from sobbing.

            “I know, pup. I know.”

            Sniffling, he lifted his head and licked his father’s chin, reaffirming Inuyasha’s position as his leader. The older hanyou responded by turning his head and nuzzling him gently. The sound for forgiveness did not come, however, and that one small omission told him that he wasn’t absolved quite yet.

            “You’re not forgiven yet, pup,” Inuyasha said, answering his unspoken question.

            Miroku expected some punishment for his actions, but whatever his father chose to do to him couldn’t be nearly as horrible as the punishment he had thought he was going to get.

            “You’ve got a lot of reparations to make before you’re back in my good graces.”

            He nodded. “I understand. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

            “I’m glad to hear that. It’s the most intelligent thing you’ve said all day.”

            He gave a small chuckle and sighed, closing his eyes, not wanting to lose the feeling of warmth and acceptance.

            “The first thing you’re going to do is get some help,” his father dictated. “If you think your mother and I would reject you because we’re having a pup, and believe that I would slit your throat in cold-blood, you’ve got serious issues. I’m sure Asame can recommend someone, and we’ll go with you when the time comes to work on your specific problems with us. I don’t want this shit to ever happen again.”

            He nodded. “Me either. I’ll go. I promise.”

            “Plus, until you’ve got a handle on this, I don’t want you to leave your sword behind. Part of your problem was you went into a blood-rage and it wasn’t there to calm you.”

            He cringed. Inuyasha was right. If he had kept Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga with him, chances were he wouldn’t ever have gone into the blood-rage to begin with.

            “I’ll keep it with me always,” he assured him, feeling the weight of the hilt against his hip.

            “Trust your sword to seal your blood. It’s what it does for you. You didn’t need a powerful sword for fighting, but you needed a powerful sealing sword to hold back that youkai temper of yours.”

            “Yes. I know. I’ll remember, I promise.”

            Inuyasha grunted. “The second thing is you’re responsible for the damages.”

            “I already planned to take care of all of it. I’ll make calls tomorrow for the sunroom,” he replied.

            “The third thing is you will apologize to your mother and do whatever she wants you to do to make reparations to her.”

            He nodded again. “Of course. Is… is Okaa-san okay?” he asked timidly.

            “Yeah. It was a false alarm brought on by all the upset. They’re keeping her overnight and will probably send her home in the morning, but they’ll want her to rest and take it easy until the pup comes; so if I see or hear you doing anything that will upset her, I  ** _will_**  beat you bloody.”

            “Yes,” he agreed.

            “The last thing is you will present yourself to Yukio and submit to him. He is the beta-male and you attacked him. I am sure he will have a few things he wants you to do before he accepts your apology.”

            He nodded. He’d expected that. In fact, each of his father’s demands were exactly what he had anticipated, without the physical punishment or rejection.

            “That is very reasonable. I will do my best, but he is very angry with me right now.”

            Now Inuyasha chuckled. “You have no idea, pup.  ** _He_**  may beat you bloody for your stupidity.”

            “It would be no more than I deserve. I was honestly expecting a much worse punishment than I received.”

            Inuyasha tightened his grip and held him closer. “I know, and I’m warning you not to make my leniency with you be a mistake or next time I’ll really hurt you.”

            “I’ll try, but a few cracks in my skull might let in some common sense,” he joked weakly, repeating something he had heard Inuyasha say on numerous occasions.

            “Keh. You got that right. So far you’ve been a bigger idiot than the bitch who birthed you. A couple of head injuries might rattle that pea-brain of yours enough to improve your attitude.”

            He laughed faintly at the joke and closed his eyes again. “Thank you.”

            “Don’t ever think for a minute that your mother and I don’t adore you,” his father told him gently, smoothing his hair again.

            He shuddered and didn’t answer, merely pressed his face further into Inuyasha’s shoulder and sighed.

            “Never scare me like that again,” Inuyasha warned.

            “I’m sorry. You were scared?” he asked, opening his eyes to peer up at Inuyasha’s jaw.

            His father snorted. “Of course I was scared. You could have hurt yourself.”

             _‘Hurt myself?’_  “Hurt myself?”

            “What? You thought you could beat me? You’ve never seen me fight, pup. I was going easy on you.”

            “You kicked my ass into next week and you were going  ** _easy_**  on me?”

            Inuyasha shrugged. “I was more worried that you’d do yourself harm trying to hurt me.”

            He blinked and furrowed his brow.

             _‘I’ve always heard that Otou was a good fighter and I thought I’d seen him fight, but now I’m not so sure I’ve ever really seen him use his power. I’ve only ever seen him use Kaze no Kizu a handful of times and I’ve never seen the other attacks Tessaiga has. I thought he’d gone soft over the years, but he took me out with one punch the moment he knew he had to. I should have paid more attention to my older sibs when they talked about Otou-san’s battles_   _and fighting skills. It would have saved me the bruises and the humbled pride.’_

            “Even when I’m trying to hurt you, you’re still looking out for me,” he commented.

            “Hurt me? You thought you were hurting me? Pup, you’ve got to try a hell of a lot harder before you cause me any pain,” Inuyasha scoffed.

            “But you’re all bloody...”

            “Bah, these are just scratches. I’ve taken down Naraku, pup. Compared to him, you’re Myouga.”

             _‘I’m a flea?’_  “I am?”

            “Keh, you hit like a girl.”

            “A girl? Don’t let Eri hear you say that.  ** _She’d_** try to kick your ass.”

            “Eri’s a neko-youkai. She doesn’t count.”

            Miroku laughed softly, then sobered. “Otou, can I see Okaa-san now?”

            There was a long silence, then Inuyasha sighed. “Yeah, but not for long. They’ve given her some sedatives so she’s really tired. But I think she’ll be glad to see you and know you’re all right.”

            “Thank you.”

            Inuyasha helped him stand, although he really didn’t need the aid, and he roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, then straightened his rumpled clothes, dropping the blanket onto the bed in a heap. He saw his father look at the shirt he was wearing and smile.

            “I love that shirt. The moment I saw it, I knew it was for you.”

            He brushed some dust from the hem and re-read the Latin. “I’ve always liked it. Tomo gave it to me to change into. My other shirt was ruined. So is yours. Tomo brought clothes for you and Yukio to change into.”

            Inuyasha grunted a reply and they quietly left the room.

            “Think they’ll be upset about the bed?” he asked.

            “Do I care if they are?” his father answered.

            “I guess not. Thank you for fixing my car by the way. I found it when Tomo and I opened the garage.”

            Inuyasha shrugged, then carefully opened the door to 328, peering in through the crack.

            “Kagome?” he heard his father ask softly, then his mother’s sleepy reply.

            Opening the door further, Inuyasha ushered him inside to stand by his mother’s bed.

            “Miroku is here now,” his father said, then stood back and let him have a moment with his mother.

            Kagome looked worn and exhausted, but she smiled at him and lifted her hand to take his. He reached out and cradled her small hand in his palms, giving her a little smile of his own.

            “Okaa-san.”

            “I’m so glad you’re all right. I was so worried about you.”

 _‘Worried about me. While I was challenging Yukio and doing my best to kill him, she was worried about me.’_  “I’m fine, Okaa-san. A headache and a few bruises is all I have.”

            She laughed softly. “I think that’s the motto of this family. ‘I’m fine’ when you’re battered and bloody. Your father would routinely suffer wounds that would have killed a human and brush it off as just a scratch.”

            He chuckled back then bit his lip as a wave of emotion hit him. ‘ _This is my mother and I hurt her. I hurt her and she still thinks of my welfare before her own.’_

            “Okaa-san… Mama… I’m so sorry,” he choked, the tears welling up again.

            “Shhhh, don’t cry, sweetheart. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

             _‘And she comforts me. Me who put her in the hospital and almost sent her into premature labor.’_

            He took her hand and raised it to his mouth, kissing it with trembling lips.

            “Mama…” he whispered, losing the battle with his tears as they began to roll down his face.

            Bending over, he nuzzled her and licked her chin, sniffling as she put one arm awkwardly around him and tried to comfort.

            “Miroku, my sweet boy. I’m sorry too. You must have been so scared. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m sorry it got so bad that you felt you had to do what you did. We’ll always love you, baby. Please don’t ever forget that.”

            “Okaa-san. Thank you. Thank you.”

            “You’ll always be my baby. You’re all my pups, each and every one of you. This little one isn’t going to change that. I’ll still love you just the same.”

            He pressed his nose to the pulse point of her throat and squeezed his eyes shut to quell his tears.

            “Okaa-san. I love you, Okaa-san.”

_‘God I’m so fucked up. How could I have ever thought they would replace me? Maybe it’s a good thing that Otou-san is insisting I get some help. I’ve… I’ve never talked about **Her**  with anyone outside of my family.’_

“We love you too, baby. So much.”

            Kagome took the hand that still held hers and drew it down to her womb, pressing his palm against the underside. A moment later, he felt a definite kick.

            “Feel that?”

            He nodded as the unborn pup kicked again.

            “That’s your little brother or sister in there.”

            “Heh. He’s already a handful, isn’t he?”

            She chuckled. “No more than any of you. He just started earlier.”

            “I’m so glad the pup’s all right. I’m…” He stopped. There weren’t any words. “Thank god I didn’t kill it” seemed wholly inappropriate, and he didn’t know what else he could say to convey his regret and relief.

            “It’s all right. The doctor says the baby’s fine,” she assured him. “And if you listen closely, you can hear his little heartbeat.”

            He nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh sound that beat faster than his mother’s heartbeat.

_‘Strong. Healthy. Alive. I’m so glad…’_

            “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” a new voice said in the open doorway.

            His reaction was immediate and instinctive. :Not-pack male! Female hurt! Protect mother-female!:

            He whirled and took a defensive stance, casting a glance to see that his father had done the same. No matter what differences they might have, both were viciously protective and they stood shoulder to shoulder to face down the possible threat. The newcomer, a youkai doctor in a lab coat, threw up his hands in peace.

            “Easy. Easy. I mean no harm,” he assured them, even as they both lifted their lips and gave him twin growls. “Sheesh, these inu. Calm down already.”

            “You must forgive them, Doctor,” Kagome whispered faintly. “They are just doing what they do best.”

            “Growling?” the doctor asked jovially.

            “Posturing. Really, don’t worry. They’re all bark and no bite.”

            “Speak for yourself! I can too bite!” Inuyasha complained, even as he backed down from his glare and growl.

            Miroku relaxed too, yielding his place by the bed as the doctor came into the room.

            “You should be resting, my dear. I’ve read your file and you’ve had quite an exciting afternoon,” he said. “I’m Doctor Hattori. I’ll be taking over your case through the birth of this little troublemaker.”

            The doctor patted his mother’s womb in a gesture he found far too familiar for his tastes, and the look on his father’s face showed that Inuyasha agreed with him. His mother, however, didn’t seem to mind too much.

            “They tell me my baby’s fine,” she prompted.

            Dr. Hattori looked at the file in his hands and nodded. “Everything seems normal. It says here you don’t want to know the sex of the baby beforehand. Is that right?”

            She nodded. “Yes.”

            “Then I won’t tell you. I will say that your little one is doing fine in spite of the earlier scare,” the doctor answered, patting her womb again.

            “Excuse me, but who are you again?” he asked, sensing his father’s growing irritation.

            The doctor turned to face him and Inuyasha, bowing. “I’m sorry. I’m Doctor Hattori. I’ll be Fushikenwa Kagome’s obstetrician through the birth.”

            “What happened to Dr. Maggiano? She said she would fly in from Calgary a week before my mate’s due date,” Inuyasha countered, slightly upset.

            “Dr. Maggiano sends her regrets, but she won’t be able to come to Japan. One of her other patients was elevated to extremely high risk, and she has two others who are also high risk, all of whom are due at about the same time as your mate. She felt that it would be unprofessional of her to leave her other patients at such a crucial time, so she transferred your mate to me,” the doctor explained.

            Inuyasha frowned. “We liked and trusted Dr. Maggiano,” he complained.

            “I know it’s a change, and during a very stressful time, but believe me I’ve been delivering babies for quite some time now. Everything will be fine,” he replied, a little too patronizingly.

 _‘If he’s rubbing **me**  the wrong way, Otou-san must be through the roof,’ _Miroku thought, shifting his weight from foot to foot. There was something he just didn’t like about this doctor.

            “Thank you, Doctor. Dr. Maggiano must trust you a great deal to have handed my case to you. I’m sure I’m in good hands,” Kagome said.

            Dr. Hattori turned to his mother again and patted her hand. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. Now looking at your stats, I see that your blood pressure is still a little high. I want you to get plenty of bed rest and drink lots of fluids. And no mountain climbing or skydiving before the baby is born, all right?”

            She laughed softly. “I promise, Doctor. I’ll try to restrain myself the next time I get the urge to jump out of a plane.”

            “And the two of you should get out of here and let this young lady rest,” the doctor suggested, looking at him and Inuyasha.

            His father crossed his arms and got the tell-tale stubborn look on his face that his children knew so well. “I am not leaving my mate.”

            “I assure you, she will be perfectly fine, and you… you look a little worse for wear.”

            “I’m fine. These are nothing. I’m not leaving my mate. I’ll sleep on the floor if I have to but I am not going anywhere.”

            “Inuyasha…” his mother tried, but Inuyasha rounded on her.

            “I am Not. Going. Anywhere,” he repeated and his voice brooked no argument.

 _‘If they intend to get him out of here tonight, they’d better be ready for a fight,’_ he thought.  _‘Once he gets his mind made up there’s no reasoning with him.’_

            The doctor sighed. “Very well. Far be it from me to go up against an inu when his mate is involved. I like my hospital in one piece, thank you very much. I’ll have the staff bring in an extra chair and a blanket and pillow.”

            Inuyasha grunted and nodded in agreement.

            “Well, I have other patients to see so I will take my leave. Both of you have a good evening, and you, young lady, you get some sleep and don’t let these two inus bug you.”

            “I won’t, doctor, thank you,” Kagome replied with a small smile.

            With a final bow to him and his father, the doctor walked out, leaving the door open behind him.

            “I don’t like him,” his father announced.

            “Oh Inuyasha, don’t be rude. I’m sure he’s fine. If Dr. Maggiano gave me to him then he must be good. I trust her judgment.”

            “He touched you like he knew you and called you a young lady. I don’t like him,” Inuyasha insisted.

            “Well, it’s kinda late to get a new doctor now. I’m due in six weeks, and Dr. Maggiano can’t be here.”

            “He smells funny too,” Miroku added, frowning.

            “He’s a baboon-youkai,” his father told him. “That’s probably what you’re smelling. Their scent is… unusual.”

            “Ah.”  _‘And he knew immediately what kind of youkai the doctor was when I had no idea. When has he ever met a baboon-youkai?’_

            His mother sighed and rubbed her womb.

            “What’s wrong?” Inuyasha asked immediately.

            “I have to go to the bathroom.”

            “Here, I’ll help you,” his father offered, reaching to help her sit up and slide off the bed.

            She fumbled with the back ties of the hospital gown as she shuffled towards the restroom. “I hate these things.”

            He suddenly remembered the tote bags Tomo had brought with them. “Tomo has a change of clothes for you, Okaa-san. I’ll go get them.”

            He waited for Inuyasha to nod in agreement, then quickly left the room. Back in the waiting room, he noticed that two more of his siblings had arrived: his older sister Rumiko and younger brother Kitarou, but that Uncle and Aunt Rin had left. All eyes turned to him the moment he opened the ward doors and he stopped for a moment, suddenly battling nerves. Yukio stood up from where he was seated next to Mama-baachan and came over to him, his face unreadable.

            “Okaa-san wants her clothes,” he said.

            Yukio nodded and retrieved the tote bags from the floor. Miroku reached for them, but Yukio snatched them close to his body and fixed him with a look. He flattened his ears in submission and let his older brother through the doors, following silently behind as Yukio headed for their mother’s hospital room.

            His parents were just finishing in the bathroom as they arrived at the room. Yukio handed his father the bags and Inuyasha took Kagome back into the bathroom to change. When they came out, his mother was dressed in her favorite button-up nightgown and his father was in fresh jeans and a T-shirt that said ‘I'm multi-talented. I can talk and piss you off at the same time.’

            Miroku had to suppress a laugh at the shirt as Inuyasha helped Kagome back into bed. Then he stood next to his mother while his father and older brother had a quiet conversation.

_‘Probably about me...’_

            “Miroku, sweetheart?” his mother said, calling him out of his thoughts.

            “Yes, Okaa-san?” he replied.

            She waved him close and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “Do you think you could sneak in some food for me?”

            “Are you hungry, Okaa-san?” he whispered back.

            She nodded. “Starving. I haven’t had anything to eat since eleven.”

            He looked at his watch. It was almost five-thirty. “No wonder you’re hungry. Won’t they serve dinner here soon?”

            She made a face. “Hospital food?”

            He chuckled. “Okay, okay. What can I smuggle in for you?”

            “Mos Burger?”

            He laughed. “What flavor?”

            “Teriyaki or the shrimp tempura burger. Or both.” She blushed.

            He smiled and kissed her temple. “I’ll get both for you. Do you want fries or onion rings?”

            “Ummm, fries.”

            “Okay. I’ll just tell Otou-san where I’m going...”

            A hand fell on his shoulder, effectively stopping him.

            “We’ll send Kitarou to get it. He’s starting to fidget and it will give him something to do,” Yukio interrupted.

            Kagome smiled up at his older brother. “Okay honey.”

            “You wanted fries, a teriyaki burger and a shrimp tempura burger?” Yukio asked.

            She nodded. “Yeah, and have them give me extra pickles.”

            “Okay. You. You’re with me,” his older brother said, motioning for him to follow.

            He cast a worried glance at his father, who only nodded once reassuringly, before obeying Yukio’s command.

            Back in the hall, Yukio made him stand and wait while he went to tell Kitarou what their mother wanted. The tanuki-hanyou would be glad for the job because it would make him feel as if he were actually doing something. Kitarou never was one to sit idle for any length of time; it’s what made him such a good manager. Miroku kept his head down and waited for Yukio to return, knowing he would have to make reparations to his brother before he would be back in good standing again.

            He smelled and felt Yukio’s return from the waiting room, and he closed his eyes and bared his throat. Yukio gave a growl and he flinched, sensing movement from his brother. The blow was not entirely unexpected, but it hit with such ferocity that he knew Yukio hadn’t pulled the punch. He was thrown backwards by the impact and slid several feet down the hall on his back. His vision had just started to clear when a foot was pressed to his windpipe with just enough pressure to get his attention.

            “You have got to be the biggest asshole on the planet,” Yukio seethed.

            He looked up to see his brother glaring down at him, ears pinned so far against his head that they were completely buried in his hair. He whined in submission and rolled to expose his belly, but otherwise said nothing. A tense moment later Yukio sighed and removed his foot, letting him breathe freely again.

            “But you’re my little brother and I love you,” his brother said.

            He blinked, not comprehending what Yukio had just said, then realized that Yukio was accepting him back in the same way their father had.

_‘He’s not rejecting me either…’_

            “However, if you ever pull this shit again I will shred you to pieces and let Otou-san deal with what’s left after I’m done with you,” Yukio added.

            He sat up, feeling his throat and knowing he’d be sporting bruises from both older hanyous. Dazedly, he watched Yukio stomp over to where Jyu-ichi-Kenshuga had gotten snagged on a doorjamb as he slid across the tile and ripped free of his belt loop.

            “And if I ever see you without this, I will personally shove it up your ass,” Yukio threatened, handing him the sword.

            “It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s accused me of having something stuck up my butt,” he joked weakly, accepting the sword.

            Yukio chuckled and offered him a hand up. He accepted it and was surprised when his brother not only pulled him to his feet, but also pulled him into a tight embrace.

            “Don’t scare me like that again, okay?” Yukio said into his hair.

             _‘Scared. Both he and Otou-san were scared for me when I was busy trying to kill them.’_

            Tentatively, he returned the hug and was rewarded with an even stronger hug as Yukio pulled him closer.

            “Otouto,” he heard Yukio whisper, and he shivered.

            “Aniki,” he replied, pressing his face into the side of Yukio’s neck and licking the deep gashes he had put there with his claws. “I’m sorry, Aniki.”

            Yukio raised his jaw, giving him the opportunity to lick under his chin and reaffirm him as the beta-male, then turned his head to look at him.

            “You’re gonna be on my shit list for a while, but I’m sure I’ll forgive you eventually.”

            “Otou-san told me I must make reparations to you as well as him and Okaa-san.”

            Yukio nodded. “And he said he told you that you had to talk to a therapist.”

            “I’m going to ask Asame to recommend someone,” he confirmed.

            “Good. That’s a positive first step.”

            Yukio stepped back and took him by the chin, examining his bruises and wounds.

            “Otou-san did a number on your jaw.”

            He nodded. “I didn’t lose any teeth, but Tomo had to give me two painkillers before my head would stop pounding.”

            “Be glad that’s all he did. He could have broken it.”

            “I know. Tomo said after everything, the house took the most damage.”

            “Yeah, I think he’s right about that. We’ll need a new coffee machine,” Yukio agreed.

            “I’ll get one in the morning and make calls about having someone come to fix the sunroom.”

            Yukio winced. “I saw that. It looked like someone went through it.”

            “Both of us actually. I was trying to corner Otou-san and get under his defenses when I rushed at him. We both hit the glass and it shattered.”  _‘Come to think of it, Otou-san flipped us so he would go through first and just pulled me along with him. He took the brunt of the impact to protect me…’_

            “Speaking of shattered glass, I should go home and start cleaning up the mess. If Hanae sees it in the morning, she’ll quit and I don’t want to lose her as my housekeeper,” he added. “Otou-san is going to stay with Okaa-san tonight and they’ll probably release her in the morning.”

            Yukio sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “And there’ll be no arguing with him.”

            “I wouldn’t and the doctor wouldn’t either. He offered to bring in a chair and a blanket when Otou-san said he’d sleep on the floor. But if you want to try, I’ll just stay here and watch as he pounds you into the wall when you try to peel him away from her.”

            Yukio winced. “No, thank you. I’ve had enough of fighting with family for one day. You’re right though; the house should be cleaned up before Okaa-san gets home, even if the sunroom isn’t fixed. If she sees all the damage, it’ll upset her.”

            “Yeah.”

            Turning, he headed for the ward doors. Yukio followed at his shoulder and went ahead of him into the waiting room. Several of his siblings looked to Yukio as they returned and his older brother made a gesture that confirmed that he was still part of the pack.

            The relief that flooded through the room was evident in the sighs that escaped numerous lips and his sister Izayoi came running towards him.

            “Miroku,” she sobbed and hugged him.

            “Anu-ue,” he breathed and wrapped arms around her. Of all of his siblings, she would understand best because she was also an inu-hanyou like their father and older brother.

            :Pack-brother,: she said in inu-youkai, smoothing his hair.

            :Pack-sister,: he replied and licked her chin. Not only was she his elder but also above him because she was female.

            She whacked him on the head, not too hard, but hard enough. :Stupid pup!:

            :Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.:

            “You’d better be,” she growled, her golden eyes flashing.

            He lowered his ears and ducked his head. “I know, I’m the biggest asshole on the face of the planet.”

            She huffed and nodded, crossing her arms and looking very much like a female version of their father. “You won’t see me arguing with you. Honestly, Miroku what were you thinking?”

            “He wasn’t. That was the problem,” Eri accused, coming over. “Never expect a dog to use his brain.” She turned to him, her face cold with fury. “You got off easy. If I had been the one in charge, I would have beaten you bloody and kicked you out.”

            He nodded. “And it would have been no more than I deserved for my crimes. I am very lucky that our father is so forgiving.”

            Eri snorted. “Too forgiving. Always has been. It’s a weakness you dogs have. None of you know how to hold a grudge.”

            He smiled softly. “And cats hold one for fifty years.”

            “Exactly. I’d have made you grovel for at least two before I would have even spoken to you.”

            “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t. What I did… I’m so glad Okaa-san and the pup are all right.”

            “You’ve seen her. How is she?” Izayoi asked worriedly.

            “Tired and hungry but okay. Otou-san is going to stay with her tonight,” he answered.

            Eri laughed. “I knew there would be no getting him out of here no matter what Yukio promised.”

            “The doctor said they would bring him a chair and a blanket after he vowed to sleep on the floor.”

            Izayoi smiled. “That’s Otou-san. Stubborn to the last.”

            “Kitarou was supposed to go get Okaa-san some food from Mos Burger,” he commented, looking around, but not seeing his brother.

            “He left a short while ago. I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Izayoi assured him.

            “I hope so. Okaa-san is tired and she should eat before she goes to sleep.”

            “Then we should get in there to see her quickly,” Izayoi said.

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            She put a hand on his arm. “I’ll speak with Yukio, then take Tetsu in to see her. If you’ll wait, we’d be happy to give you a ride back to Tokyo House after we’re done.”

            “I should be getting back. There’s a huge mess to clean up.”

            Izayoi nodded, then spoke more quietly. “And I should get Tetsu out of here. His Sight is almost out of control. He even sleeps with his sword to keep the visions at bay. Something has triggered him but he won’t tell me what. I have a call in to his dragon aunt for her to come and give him some remedial training, but her office told me she’d be in Europe until next week.”

            Miroku looked over to where Tetsukazu sat apart from the others. He was huddled in the chair with his eyes closed and the hilt of Jyu-shi-Kenshuga pressed to his forehead. The signs of stress showed clearly on his face and it looked like he was sweating.

_‘That’s not good.’_

            Izayoi followed his line of sight. “Being here surrounded by all of us is very hard for him right now. Mariko laid hands on him a short while ago, but it only helped a little bit. Let me talk to Yukio, then take him in to see Okaa-san. Then we’ll go.”

            He nodded. “Okay.”

            “I’ll just go in,” Eri said. “My meeting was shot to hell, but maybe I can arrange a business dinner for later tonight.”

            With that, she turned and walked through the ward doors without even bothering to ask Yukio if it was all right.

             _‘Just like a cat,’_  he thought with a bit of amusement.

            Izayoi went over to speak with Yukio while he stayed by the doors and looked around until Tomo motioned for him to come over and sit beside him. Frankly, he was glad for the invitation because it made him feel less alone since none of his other siblings seemed interested in speaking to him. Sitting next to his brother, Tomo asked him how their mother was doing and he answered all of the bat-hanyou’s questions. A few minutes later, Kitarou arrived with Kagome’s food and he was ushered in with Izayoi and Tetsukazu.

            While he waited for his sister and youngest brother to return from visiting their mother, both Asame and Mariko came over and spoke softly to him. Mariko laid her hands upon him and he felt the heavy weight of grief being lifted from his heart at her touch, and Asame promised to provide the name of a therapist she thought could help him and said she would set up an appointment for him as soon as possible.

            When Izayoi came out with Tetsu, he rose from his seat and followed them out. Tomo would bring Yukio back to Tokyo House in the BMW when they were ready to leave. In the meantime, he would clean up the mess and begin to make his reparations to his family. It was the least he could do to repay the kindness and forgiveness they had shown to a thickheaded, stubborn idiot such as himself.

            He looked around the room as he prepared to leave, and felt an odd sense of peace. He knew he was still in trouble, but he hadn’t been kicked out of the pack and that was all that mattered. He had time to make reparations and heal the wounds he had inflicted, and that was more than he had hoped for. In that respect, Tomo had been right. It wasn’t okay, but eventually it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter and the previous one were inspired by one of my beta readers who was also adopted. She spoke of how adopted children often feel lesser (and are sometimes treated as lesser) than biological children in their adoptive families. I wanted to address the anguish and pain of being unwanted or second best through Miroku's rage and outbursts.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter Forty-One

 

            The rocking of the subway car wasn’t soothing the way a train ride could be. The constant stops and starts were jarring, as was the noise and smell, and, not for the first time, Kagome was thankful that Mariko was with her. As a bird-hanyou, she had remarkable eyesight but her hearing and sense of smell were no better than a human’s. If Inuyasha had been with her, he would have been bothered by the loud sounds and stink of the trains. Then again if Inuyasha had been with her, she wouldn’t even  **be**  on the subway in the first place. That was kinda the point.

            Ever since her return from the hospital, after Yukio had told her how his meeting with Dr. Ishimoro had gone, and the threats and death of the private investigator, she’d been wracked with guilt. If only she had taken more of an interest in what was happening in Japan perhaps things wouldn’t have gone so wrong. She knew the timeline as well as any of them; she knew when the trouble with Dr. Ishimoro would start, and she had chosen to remain blissfully oblivious to the events transpiring in Tokyo simply because it was easier for her to do nothing.

 _‘And you left the handling of a delicate, human matter in the hands of a taiyoukai who regularly refers to humans as ‘peons.’ His mating to Rin may have softened him up somewhat but woe betide anyone who gets in his way. Of course he was going to get nasty when the doctor refused to play along, and now the whole situation’s a mess. A woman has lost her career and reputation, and a little girl has lost everything she’s ever known. All because my impulsive hanyou had to scratch up her car. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given to know then what I know now,’_  she thought sadly as the subway car screeched to a halt, then rumbled up again a minute later.

            And so, because Kagome felt badly about what had happened, and ignoring her mate’s insistence that the only reason she felt so guilty was because she was pregnant and ‘those damn hormones are acting up again,’ she conspired to pay the woman a visit in hopes of… in hopes of…

             _‘Well, you really didn’t know **what**  you were hoping to do. You just figured that you could at least try to do  **something** ,’_ she mentally sighed.

            She conspired to pay the woman a visit, enlisting Mariko’s help because she knew Mariko had the best chance of actually being able to make some good come from the whole debacle. Of all of her children, Mariko reminded her the most of Kaede. Probably because, like Kaede, Mariko was a miko. She was much more than that, actually. She had always been drawn to the spiritual path, and for years she had lived with Midorikyou in Zengo-Ji studying the ways of peace and healing. These days she was a practicing huna shaman, and a very powerful one at that. She taught and studied shamanism with others on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

            There was an aura of peace around her that was palpable, and her unshakable calm helped Kagome remain focused and relaxed. Even now, she could feel her daughter’s steady support and serenity seeping over into her and settling her down from everything that had happened. This was a good thing because if she stepped into the house smelling of upset and anger, Inuyasha was bound to figure out what she really had been doing.

             _‘Not that he won’t figure it out anyway. I can’t hide anything from him for long. He is going to be so angry with me.’_

            She had told her mate that she and Mariko were going baby shopping and then out to lunch. Since Mariko wouldn’t lie, however, she had to make sure that the promised shopping and lunch actually occurred, in addition to their little detour. Inuyasha knew his daughter’s honesty and trustworthiness, so getting him to agree to a ‘girls only’ outing was relatively easy, and she didn’t tell Mariko about the other errand until after they had left the house. Mariko had given her a wry smile and a raised eyebrow, but had not tried to dissuade her from her plans.

            They had taken the subway into the city, following the scribbled directions on the back of the sheet of paper with the doctor’s address that she had hastily printed out one afternoon while her mate and eldest were busy elsewhere and thought she was napping.

_‘Hmph. They think pregnancy shrank my brain enough for me to forget how to do a web search. Chauvinistic jerks.’_

            They had found the correct apartment building and Mariko had used her miko powers to ‘harmonize’ the door into unlocking for them so they could go inside. When they knocked on the apartment door, it had been opened by a bright-eyed little girl no more than eight years old and her first words to them had been:

            “Wow! You’re pretty. Mama, this lady has blue-green hair!”

            Thus revealing in a single sentence that Dr. Ishimoro’s daughter was Gifted and could see right through Mariko’s concealment spell. Things went decidedly downhill from there.

            Finding out that the doctor had a Gifted child should have come as no surprise. Even though she had vehemently professed that demons did not exist, she did so with the conviction of one who was trying to convince herself, and she had also known enough to threaten Inuyasha with purification. Kagome instantly felt pity for the poor woman who probably had no idea what to do with her daughter, and who most likely spent many hours trying to convince the child that what she was seeing was all in her head.

             _‘Then we come along and shove it in her face that demons **are**  real and her kid can see them.’_

            The next set of events were still a blur. Mariko crouching down to look the child in the eyes, her mother screeching and grabbing the little girl to yank her away, the little girl screaming… Dr. Ishimoro noticing that she was pregnant and her choice remarks about her baby’s lineage...

            Everything had just come crumbling down around her like a house of cards. She didn’t even really remember what she had actually said. She knew she had apologized for what had happened and expressed her sorrow for how things had turned out. She knew that her apology had  ** _not_**  been accepted, and that the doctor had threatened to charge them with trespassing (which would have been interesting because Sesshoumaru owned the real estate management company that owned the building.) She knew that, despite the doctor’s valiant efforts to prevent it, the little girl did actually touch and talk to Mariko, although what the miko said to her was still unknown. She knew that the meeting had degenerated into a scene that had the neighbors peering out of their doors as the doctor screamed at her to ‘get out! Get Out! GET OUT!’ Things got a little fuzzy after that and the only thing she concretely remembered was Mariko guiding her out of the building.

            “Mama. I think this is our stop,” Mariko said softly, bringing her out of her thoughts.

            She looked up and read the station sign. “Ah…” she said, drawing a blank.

            “You wanted to go to Daimaru to look at that new all-in-one car seat, bassinette and carrier they advertised,” her daughter reminded.

            “Oh. Yes, you’re right. We do get off here.”

            Mariko helped her rise to her feet and toddle off the train, noting with some amusement how people got out of the way to let her pass.

             _‘Excuse me, one beached whale coming through. Careful! Better get out of the way or she might give it to you,’_  she thought wryly, noting how many young women skittered nervously by.  _‘That’s right, girls, pregnancy is contagious. Run, I might sneeze on you and eight months later you’ll look like this. If there was ever a case for responsible family planning, I am **it**. Ugh.’_

            “Are you all right, Mama?” Mariko asked, her delicate hand coming up to lightly grasp her by the elbow.

            She looked down at the hand, noting that it was almost completely human except for the fact that it only had four fingers.

            “I’m fine. Just my ankles acting up again,” she explained as they climbed the stairs out of the subway. Young urban-something’s whizzed by them; the lovely, thin, perfectly dressed women professionals giving her the widest berth.

            “Psst, Mariko. Do you think I could make them trip faster up the stairs if I flashed my belly at them and yelled Boo?” she commented.

            Mariko giggled, her red eyes flashing with mirth. “I don’t know, Mama, but we can try.”

            “Nah. I don’t want to be responsible for some poor girl breaking her neck as she tries to get away.”

            Her daughter snickered and supported her as they made it to the top of the stairs.

            “Whew,” she sighed, breathing heavily. “Gravity seems so much heavier when you’re lugging around an extra 11kg.”

            “Do you want to sit down?” Mariko asked, pointing to a conveniently empty bench sticking out like a sore thumb amid the sea of people rushing to and fro.

 _‘Probably one of Mariko’s ‘intentions.’ She wished for a place for me to sit and *poof* there it was. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to her doing those kinds of things. I never did them. Then again, I’ve never walked on hot coals either._ ’

            Gratefully she sank down onto the metal seat and Mariko sat next to her, the loose folds of her long dress pooling around her legs.

            “Well, I don’t think we accomplished anything,” she commented, looking up at the tall office buildings around her.

            “Yes we did. We were able to talk to that little girl. Now Risa knows that she isn’t imagining things,” Mariko countered.

            “Is that what you told her?”

            “Basically. She is very strong for such a little child. Kami wants her badly. In time she’ll find her way to the Path in spite of her mother’s fear and prejudice. For now at least she knows she’s not alone.”

            “Other than that, then.”

            “It’s enough. It’s why we went there. You knew nothing would come of a meeting between you. Now she will be healed by her daughter when she is ready to be healed. There is much good in that,” Mariko said.

            “True. And I do feel better even if things did go so badly. At least now I know I did what I could and the rest is out of my hands.”

            “Exactly. All you can do is send them love and trust that everything will work out for the best.”

            She nodded then moved to stand. “I’m ready.”

            Mariko steadied her as she rose to her feet and they continued down the block to the department store.

            “Did I want to look for a stroller?” she asked, spotting a display on the way to the elevator.

            “Do you need one? I thought you had decided to use the one Mama-baachan bought you.”

            “Yeah, that is a nice stroller.”

            “Besides, don’t you think it’s funny that the same stroller Yukio once rode in as a baby will carry your youngest now? I myself love the irony in that.”

            She snickered. “Yeah, I do love that.”

            Two hours, one car seat/bassinette/carrier combo, two bags of baby clothes and a Diaper Genie later, they left the store in search of lunch. Mariko, by nature of her bird-youkai lineage, was a vegetarian so the usual haunts such as WacDonalds and Mos Burger were out, much to Kagome’s distress because she was craving another juicy side of cow. Instead she had to settle for beef teriyaki at a bento shop.

            They were making their way to the picnic area of a nearby park, Mariko helpfully carrying their lunch, when voices called out her name from somewhere behind her.

            “Higurashi?”

            “Kagome-chan?”

             _‘Houjou? Yuka?’_ she thought suddenly, recognizing her junior high school classmates.

            She gingerly turned around to face them and was surprised to see not only Houjou and Yuka, but Eri and Ayumi as well.

            “It  ** _is_**  you, Higurashi. I thought I’d recognized you but I wasn’t certain,” Houjou enthused, then his eyes opened wide when he saw her ‘delicate condition.’

            Self-consciously she put her hands on her swelling womb and forced a smile. “Houjou-kun. Yuka-chan. Eri-chan. Ayumi-chan,” she greeted.

            Ayumi rushed forward and took her hands. “Kagome-chan, it is so good to see you. We haven’t seen you since graduation!”

 _‘And I haven’t seen you in 450 years,’_  she thought sadly, squeezing her friend’s hands as the others clustered around her. Mariko looked askance at her, but stood silently at her shoulder.  _‘Who do I tell them she is? Hi guys, this is Mariko. She’s my daughter. Oh and by the way, I’m over four centuries old.’_

            “Another baby, Kagome-chan?” Yuka asked leadingly, ignoring Ayumi’s glare.

            “Yeah. I’m due next month.”

            “Next month?! That means you were…” Eri gasped.

            “Pregnant at graduation. Yeah,” she replied sheepishly. There was no sense in denying it because then she would have to explain.

            “You hid it very well, Kagome,” Ayumi commented, her eyes asking questions.

             _‘She knows I wasn’t pregnant at graduation.’_

            “It was the gown. That gown hid everything, and I was only six months then and not nearly as big as I am now.”

            Eri looked at her shrewdly. “This means you have  ** _two_**  children now, Kagome?”

            She beamed and tried to look as happy as she felt inside. “Yes. Yukio and this little one.”  _‘And 26 others. One of whom is named after you.’_

            “Where is Yukio, Kagome-chan? Is he with Inuyasha?” Ayumi asked.

            She nodded. “Yes. He’s with Inuyasha.”

            “He must be getting so big!”

             _‘You have no idea.’_ “Yes, growing like a weed.”

            “Aren’t you going to go to college, Kagome?” Yuka asked.

            “I haven’t decided yet,” she lied.  _‘Actually. I’ve been to college. Four times to be precise. And to medical school. I have degrees in medicine, homeopathic medicine, biology, physiology, obstetrics and pediatrics.’_

            “Is Inuyasha taking care of you, Higurashi?” Houjou interjected, his eyes fixated on her naked ring finger.

            She gave him a sad smile. “Yes, Houjou-kun, Inuyasha is taking very good care of me.”  _‘I want for nothing. I have four beautiful houses that he built for me and more money than the Gross National Product of some small countries.’_

            “You told me he would do right by you,” the young man said, his eyes flashing disapproval for the first time she had ever seen.

            “He is. He’s a licensed architect now. We’re getting married next year.”

            “Married?!” Eri cried. “Oh, I hope you ask me to be in your wedding, Kagome-chan!”

_‘Uh… shit what do I do now?’_

            “Me too, Kagome-chan,” Yuka added.

            “And me!” Ayumi piped in.

            She was getting nervous and trying to think of a way out when Mariko saved her gracefully.

            “Kagome-chan,” her daughter said, calling her by her given name for the first time. “Our lunch is getting cold.”

            All eyes turned to Mariko who indicated the bento boxes she carried. Kagome, of course, saw her daughter in her true form: teal feathers instead of hair, a beak where her nose and mouth should be, four clawed fingers on each hand and scarlet eyes. The others, however, saw only the image projected by her concealment spell, that of a young Polynesian woman.

            “Ah Mariko, yes. We should find a place to sit and eat,” she agreed, grateful for the excuse.

            “Oh! We were going to get lunch too!” Yuka said. “We can get bento boxes and join you. It’s been so long since we’ve seen you, Kagome-chan.”

            “Ah…” She didn’t have the heart to tell them no, and in truth she was oddly glad to see them. They were a reminder of a time long past, when she was still young and innocent in many ways, and untouched by grief and hardship. “That… that would be very nice.”

            Ayumi took out a handful of bills from her purse and gave them to Eri. “Here. You know what I like, Eri. I’ll stay here with Kagome-chan.”

            “Oh, okay,” the girl replied, looking at the money.

            “We’ll just be up at that picnic table over there,” Ayumi said, pointing to an empty table not far away.

            “Okay, we’ll be back in a few minutes,” Yuka agreed, and the three of them went off to get the lunches.

            Ignoring Mariko, Ayumi grabbed her arm as soon as the others were out of hearing range and ushered her towards the table.

            “Kagome-chan, you were  ** _not_**  pregnant at graduation. What is going on?”

            “Oh Ayumi, it is so good to see you. There is so much to tell you and you wouldn’t believe half of it,” she sighed sadly.

            “I believed you when you told me that Inuyasha was a hanyou and so was Yukio. Where  ** _is_**  he? And where is Inuyasha? He never left your side when we were in school.”

            Kagome sank down to the bench as Mariko put the bento boxes on the table.

            “I didn’t lie. Yukio really is with Inuyasha. They are together while I’m out with Mariko.”

            Ayumi turned to Mariko and looked at her. “Are you a friend of Kagome-chan’s?”

            Mariko smiled softly. “In a manner of speaking.”

            “Ayumi… Mariko is my daughter.” There, she had admitted it.

            “Your daughter? Kagome how can…”

            “Ayumi. You were right, I  ** _wasn’t_**  pregnant at graduation, but shortly after my eighteenth birthday, the well at my family’s shrine closed and I was trapped on the other side,” she explained.

            “The well leading to Inuyasha’s time?”

            Kagome nodded. “Yes. The Sengoku Jidai.”

            She could see Ayumi puzzling out what she had said, her brow furrowing. “You were trapped in the past, Kagome-chan? For how long?”

            “Four hundred and fifty years,” she answered truthfully.

            “Four hundred and fifty  ** _years!_**  Kagome-chan that’s… that’s…”

            “Impossible?” she supplied helpfully.

            Ayumi blinked. “Yeah.”

            “I told you you wouldn’t believe me,” she replied with a shrug.

            “But… but…  ** _how?_** ” her friend asked helplessly.

            “That’s a long story, Ayumi-chan. All I can really tell you right now before Yuka and the others get back is that the Shikon jewel had a lot to do with it. For you, you haven’t seen me since graduation, but for me, I haven’t seen any of you for over four centuries.”

            Ayumi slumped to the bench next to her. “Wow. So…”

            “I’m over four hundred years old and Yukio is all grown up now.”

            “He is?” She sounded so sad.

            “Yes, he is.”

            “I’ll bet he grew up to be as handsome as Inuyasha.”

            She heard Mariko snicker but ignored her.

            “Yes, Yukio is very handsome,” she confirmed.

            “And Mariko is your daughter?”

            She nodded. “Yes. Like Yukio, she is an adopted hanyou. Inuyasha and I have raised many of them over the years. Thirty-three in all.”

            “ ** _Thirty-three!_** Kami-sama, Kagome! That’s too many! How did you raise so many?”

            Kagome laughed. “We didn’t have them all at once, and they were spread out over two centuries. Besides, people brought their unwanted hanyou children to us. If we hadn’t taken them, they would have been killed or abandoned and left to die.”

            Ayumi flinched. “Oh how horrible!”

            “We had so many because that’s how many were brought to us. We weren’t about to turn one away. Sometimes it was hard, but we always made do and Inuyasha was a good provider.”

            “I remember how protective he was of you.”

            She patted her belly. “Even more so now that we’re expecting this little one. I’m lucky if I can go to the bathroom without him.”

            Ayumi giggled. “Inuyasha must be so excited.”

            She nodded. “Oh yes, he is. This is the first child of ours who will be born into our family instead of brought to us.”

            “You mean… this is your  ** _first_**  pregnancy, Kagome?”

            She felt a twinge of grief for the babies she had lost and rubbed her womb. The child inside her took the opportunity to kick at her hand and let her know that he did not appreciate being disturbed.

            “The first I’ve ever carried this long. I had four others but I miscarried.”

            Ayumi bit her lip and looked apologetic. “Oh, Kagome-chan, I’m so sorry.”

            “Mama,” Mariko interrupted, then tapped the bento box containing her lunch. “Papa will be angry with me if I don’t make sure you eat.”

            Kagome rolled her eyes but smiled and opened the box. “Yes yes.”

            Ayumi just giggled again. “I can’t imagine anyone calling Inuyasha ‘Papa,’” she admitted.

            She popped a piece of shumai in her mouth and swallowed it with a happy sigh. “They call him all kinds of things, not all of which can be repeated in public.”

            Both Ayumi and Mariko chuckled.

            “Is Inuyasha really an architect?” Ayumi asked.

            She nodded, grateful to be able to tell the truth. “Yes. He’s been designing houses since the Sengoku Jidai actually, but he became licensed after he graduated from college back in the late-1800’s. He took a refresher a few years ago on modern building techniques and got re-certified.”

            Ayumi laughed. “I can’t imagine Inuyasha in a classroom.”

            She smiled. “He’s mellowed quite a bit over the years. He did very well in school. He’s very smart and much better at maths than me.”

            “Did you go to school too, Kagome-chan?”

            She nodded, taking a sip of her miso soup. “More than once. I became a pediatrician and practiced medicine in Canada for a long time.”

            “Canada? A pediatrician? Kagaome-chan!”

            “We moved to Canada in 1922. We didn’t want to be in Japan when…”

            She trailed off and it took Ayumi a moment, but then her eyes opened wide. “Oh. Oh, yes. That… that was a good idea.”

            She nodded. “We’ve been back to visit a few times since the 1960’s and some of our children moved back here permanently, but we haven’t been in Japan for over twenty-five years. We didn’t want to risk running into our younger selves.”

            Ayumi shook her head. “It’s so confusing, Kagome-chan. It’s almost too much!”

            She gave her friend a sympathetic smile. “I know. It’s hard for me sometimes and I’ve lived it.”

            Ayumi nodded and looked like she was going to say more but Kagome touched her arm and stopped her because she saw the others coming back.

            “Oh it is such a lovely day!” Yuka commented as she, Houjou and Eri returned with their lunches. “Here, Ayumi-chan,” she added, handing Ayumi her bento box and her change.

            “Thank you, Yuka-chan.”

            “Okay, let’s eat!” the girls said in unison, the same way they used to when they were all together in Junior High and had nothing more serious to worry about than what to do with their hair.

             _‘I was so naïve back then,’_ she thought, watching her friends eat and talk about what colleges they would be going to and their new boyfriends.

            As it turned out, Yuka and Houjou had become something of an ‘item’ and for that she was happy. Houjou had pined for her for so long and it was good that he was moving on, although he seemed reluctant to admit that in her presence.

            About an hour or so after she had finished eating, the events of the long day finally caught up with her and she began to feel very fatigued. Mariko noticed her weariness immediately and called a hasty ending to the impromptu picnic.

            “I am sorry, but Kagome is very tired and we must be getting home,” her daughter said gently, rising to her feet and offering a helping hand.

            “Yeah,” she agreed and accepted the help in standing and balancing on her legs.

            The others stood as well and the empty bento boxes were gathered to be thrown away.

            “It was so good to see you, Kagome-chan,” Eri told her. “We must do it again. Are you staying in Tokyo now?”

            “Until the baby is born, yes, we’re here in Tokyo.”

            “Then I’ll call sometime next week and we’ll get together for lunch again.”

            She nodded. “That would be nice.”

            “I’ll call too, Kagome-chan,” Ayumi added, a knowing look in her eyes.

            “I look forward to it,” she answered, then turned to Mariko and offered her arm.

            Mariko took her hand and supported her as they began to disband.

            “Take care, Kagome-chan!” Eri said.

            “I will.”

            “Be sure to tell Inuyasha that I am happy for the both of you,” Houjou commented.

            “I will. Thank you, Houjou-kun.”

            “Be careful of your health,” he reminded, making her smile.

            “I won’t forget,” she promised.

            “Be safe, all of you,” Mariko said and Kagome was pretty sure none of them recognized it for the Blessing it was.

            The others waved good-bye as they went their separate ways, and she and Mariko headed for home.

            “I wonder if the delivery man has delivered the stuff we bought at Daimaru yet,” she commented.

            Mariko looked at her watch. “The store manager said they would deliver before four. It’s 2:45 now.”

            She frowned. “So probably not.”

            “As long as it arrives before the baby what does it matter?”

            “True.”

            Bakin, the groundskeeper, putted up the driveway in his golf cart to meet them as they arrived at the gate to Tokyo House. Mariko had called ahead so the lizard-youkai would know when to expect them. Kagome was glad for the ride because her ankles were swollen and really starting to bother her.

            “So? What trouble have my boys gotten into while I was gone?” she asked wearily.

            “All’s been quiet Kagome-sama. Well, except for the garage.”

            She groaned. “What now? Is my mate rebuilding another motorcycle?”

            Bakin shook his head. “No, Senpai. It’s not Inuyasha-sama, but Miroku-sama and Yukio-sama.”

            “ ** _Miroku?_**  Miroku is in the garage for a reason other than to remove a vehicle?”

            The groundskeeper nodded. “Hai. Yukio-sama appears to be giving him lessons in vehicle maintenance as part of his penance for challenging him.”

            She choked, then laughed. “Oh  ** _this_**  I gotta see!”

            Bakin putted them up to the garage and they got out. Kagome thanked him and he drove off to put his cart in the storage shed. She heard the commotion from the open garage bay as she and Mariko approached, and peeped in on the scene before them.

            Yukio was leaning under the open hood of the rebuilt Aston Martin while Miroku sat on a stool beside the car, dressed in old blue jeans and a sleeveless shirt. He had his hair tied back and was wiping his hands frantically on a rag.

            “But Aniki!” he was complaining.

            “Shut up. You wanna be a playboy and have a hot car, you gotta learn how to take care of it,” came Yukio’s muffled voice from under the hood.

            “Why?!”

            Yukio stood up straight. “Because it does a man good to get his hands dirty every now and then.”

            “But I’m a history professor not a mechanic!”

            Yukio thwapped his brother on the head with the wrench he was holding. “Nothing I’m going to teach you is complicated. Even Okaa-san can do this stuff.”

            “But... But...”

            Yukio whacked him lightly again. “You will learn how to change the oil.” Thwack. “You will learn how to flush the radiator.” Thwack. “You will learn how to replace the windshield wipers.” Thwack. “You will even learn how to  ** _change a flat tire_**.”

            “Nooooo! I’ve got roadside assistance for that!”

            “Wimp!”

            Kagome couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped her lips and both inu-hanyou’s looked her way.

            “Okaa-san,” Yukio greeted happily.

            “Mama! Help me! I have grease on my hands!” Miroku pleaded.

            She shook her head. “Yukio has the right to demand it of you.”

            Miroku flattened his ears and looked pitiful but she remained firm. “We’ve spoiled you for too long. It’s about time you started toughening up a bit.”

            Her youngest inu-hanyou just whined.

            “Hah!” Yukio crowed. “See, even Okaa-san agrees with me. Spoiled little rich kid no more, otouto!”

            Kagome smiled then sighed. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I need to go get off my feet.”

            “Because you’ve overdone it again,” Inuyasha’s irritated voice said from beside her.

            She jumped a little because she hadn’t known he was there and turned her head to face him. He was glaring at her with his arms crossed over his chest.

            “It’s almost three. You were supposed to be back an hour ago.”

            She blushed. “I’m sorry. We ran into Eri, Yuka, Ayumi and Houjou after we left Daimaru and they joined us for lunch in the park.”

            He took a deep sniff and growled in a way that made her cringe.

            “I smell engine grease on you, and fuel fumes, and that god awful crap they clean the train stations with. Where have you been, Kagome?” he demanded.

_‘Oh shit...’_

He sniffed her again and his expression darkened even further. “You were on the subway. Don’t try to deny it, Kagome.”

            She didn’t, but she also didn’t answer him either. In truth she didn’t know what to say. She knew she couldn’t tell him the whole truth and admit that she’d gone to see Dr. Ishimoro. He’d go completely ballistic and she knew it.

            “Damnit, Kagome! What were you doing on the subway in your condition?” He turned his ire on his daughter. “And  ** _you_**! I trusted you to take care of your mother. It was the only reason I let her go out without me. I had confidence that you would make sure she stayed safe.”

            Mariko blinked at him, her expression neutral, then she waved one four-fingered hand at her mother.

            “And here she is, unharmed and whole. We were perfectly safe at all times.”

            He growled deep and low. “And just what was it that you were doing that you had to ride the subway? You were supposed to go baby shopping and out to lunch.”

            “And these things we did do,” Mariko confirmed. “Now please, Mama is very tired and she has had a very long day. She needs to go lie down and rest for a while.”

            Inuyasha scowled but acquiesced. “Don’t think this is over, Kagome.”

            She smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, koi. A delivery man from Daimaru is supposed to arrive later this afternoon to bring the things we bought today.”

            He growled. “All right. I’ll be sure to let him in the gate when he gets here. Does all of it go in the pup’s room?”

            She nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

            With that, she took her leave and moved to enter the house and go upstairs to her and Inuyasha’s bedroom. He was at her side immediately, supporting and guiding her up the stairs. As they walked down the hall, they passed the room that would be the baby’s after it was born and she paused to look in the doorway.

            The room was small but bright and cheerful. It had a large East-facing window with a built-in sitting nook. Yukio’s crib was off to the left and his stroller was folded against the wall. A diaper changing table, a set of shelves, and a large chest of drawers plus a beautiful hand-carved nursing rocking chair made up the remainder of the furniture in the nursery. A cute mobile of different breeds of dogs dangled over the crib, and a huge assortment of stuffed animals and baby toys took up one of the shelves along the wall.

            Kagome rubbed her womb and stepped into the room quietly.

            “Kagome?” Inuyasha asked.

            “It’s okay,” she assured him and moved to sit on the thick cushion in the sitting nook.

            “You know I’m just worried about you and the pup, right?” he told her, sitting next to her with his ears drooped a bit. “I don’t mean to yell.”

            She smiled softly. “I know. My over-protective hanyou.”

            He snorted. “Damn right. With the amount of trouble  ** _you_**  get into? You’re lucky I let you out of my sight.”

            “I’m fine. I wasn’t alone. Mariko was there to help me if I needed it.”

            “Hah! Fat lot of good she did you. She let you get on the subway for Kami-sake!”

            She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Inuyasha you are making too much of a big deal out of that. We only stayed on the subway for six stops. It was fine.”

            “Six stops? Kagome, where did you go?”

            She sighed again, but he gave her his ‘stubborn dog face’ and crossed his arms.

            “Please, Inuyasha. I’m tired.”

            His face softened into an expression of pain and disappointment. “Why don’t you want to tell me, Kagome? You know you’re only making me worry.”

            “If I tell you, you’ll just get mad at me, and I’m too tired and stressed out to deal with one of your snits right now,” she replied peevishly.

            “And I’m too pissed off and worried to deal with one of  **yours** ,” he snapped back.

            They glared at each other for several moments, then the baby kicked and she gave  a little gasp of pain.

            “Kagome?” Inuyasha asked, his face concerned, all his ire forgotten.

            She rubbed the spot that hurt and frowned. “It’s nothing. The pup just decided to practice kickboxing.”

            Inuyasha snickered and rubbed her womb. “Hey you in there. Quit kicking your mother.”

            She felt the child inside her move towards the voice and smiled.

            “It’s amazing how he reacts to the sound of your voice, Inuyasha.”

            Inuyasha beamed at her. “Four more weeks and we’ll get to see if we have another son or if it’s a little girl.”

            She nodded, then frowned as she remembered something.

            “Inuyasha, has Izayoi said anything to you about what Tetsu Saw at the reunion?”

            “You mean when he was an idiot and let go of Jyu-shi-Kenshuga?”

            “Yes.”

            He shook his head. “No, neither of them have said anything to me.”

            Her frown deepened. “I was hoping he’d talk to her about it. I don’t think he told us everything he Saw.”

            “He insisted that the pup was born alive, Kagome. What more could we want to know?”

             _‘If **I**  survive. Tetsu said he saw the baby born alive. He didn’t say anything about me coming out of the birth okay,’_ she thought.

            “I don’t know. I was hoping my false labor was part of what had him upset, but I don’t think that was it. He asked a lot of questions after I was released from the hospital, and in hindsight I wonder if he wasn’t trying to figure something out. I remember he kept asking if everything had been done to make sure I and the baby were okay. Izayoi kept telling him that she was sure they had done all the standard tests and he shouldn’t worry.”

            Inuyasha shrugged. “She’s a nurse. She should know. I’m more concerned about that damn baboon-youkai doctor. He just irritates me.”

            She giggled. “You don’t like him because Naraku wore a baboon skin.”

            He shook his head. “It’s not just that. He’s just… I don’t know. I just don’t like him. He touches you like he knows you and he treats you like a little girl.”

            “And we already talked to Dr. Maggiano and she said Dr. Hattori has been practicing youkai obstetrics for a hundred years. She has the utmost respect and faith in him and I trust her judgment,” she reminded.

            “I dunno. He seems a little young to have been practicing medicine for 100 years,” he grumbled.

            “And you don’t look a day over nineteen,” she countered.

            “ ** _I’ve_**  stopped aging,” he pointed out.

            “Don’t bring logic into this. I’m eight months pregnant.”

            He grinned. “Yes, you are.” He kissed her. “And you’ve never been more beautiful.”

            “Oh great. I’m bloated the size of a small house. I haven’t seen my feet for over a month. I’m tired, cranky and achy all the time. This kid regularly uses my insides for boxing practice. And you think I’m beautiful.”

            He waggled his eyebrows. “Absolutely. After the pup is born, I’m going to get you one of the those pregnancy pads that make you look like you’re carrying a pup when you’re really not.”

            “You’re twisted. You know that, right?”

            He snickered then they both looked to see Mariko standing in the doorway.

            “Is something wrong?” she asked her daughter.

            “There’s a phone call for Papa,” the miko replied.

            “From who?” he demanded.

            “Uncle.”

            “Sesshoumaru?”

            Mariko nodded and Inuyasha sighed. “I’d better go see what he wants now.”

            He lifted himself up from the sitting nook and left the room. Mariko stayed behind and explored the nursery.

            “This room is beautiful,” her daughter commented.

            “Thank you.”

            The presence of Mariko in the baby’s room reminded her of the earlier conversation with Inuyasha.

_‘She is a shaman. Sometimes she can See like Tetsu can, although it’s not quite the same…’_

            “Mariko, do you get any sense of what is going to happen with the baby?” she asked.

            Mariko gave her a confused look. “How do you mean?”

            “Have you Seen anything regarding the birth? Anything I should know?”

            “Like Tetsu’s visions?”

            She nodded. “Yes. Have either he or Izayoi said anything to you about what he Saw?”

            Mariko shook her head. “No.”

            “Do you get any feelings about it?” she pressed.

            “Only that Tetsu is right and the baby is born alive.”

            “What about me? Do you sense that I’m all right as well?

            Mariko looked at her for a long time, then her eyes slid away and she looked pensive. “The way ahead is dangerous but I sense nothing terrible. There is potential there, however, but it has not yet been realized. Not all is set in stone at this time.”

            She frowned. “Mariko. You know if anything happens to me, your father will be affected as well,” she reminded.

            Mariko blanched visibly, and it disturbed her to see the usual calm and poised miko show such emotion.

            “I know.”

            “If something does happen to us, you have to make sure that the others get through it. You of all of my children will have the fortitude to guide them. Yukio will be a wreck. You’ll have to look after him…”

            Mariko waved her hand and cut her off. “All will be well, Mama. Be at ease.”

            The words brought her only a small measure of comfort because Mariko had refused to use negatives. That meant she had intended the statement to be a Blessing and not just a mere reassurance that everything would be fine.

            Someone stomping down the hall interrupted their conversation as a very pissed off Inuyasha stormed back in.

            “You wanna tell me why one of Sesshoumaru’s sentries saw you two leaving the apartment building of that bitch doctor today?” he ordered.

            Now it was her turn to blanch and she sighed.

_‘Well, it stayed a secret for all of half an hour…’_

            “You had me followed?” she countered.

            “No, I didn’t. Sesshoumaru has people watching the building to make sure she does what she’s supposed to.”

            “Oh, like getting out of Japan she responded testily.

            “Yes, and staying the hell away from your family. Now answer the fucking question.”

            Mariko opened her mouth to answer but Kagome stopped her. The trip had been her idea and she would take the blame for it.

            “I went to see her.”

            Her bold-faced admission took him off-guard, and his mouth dropped open for a moment before he rallied with renewed anger.

            “You did  ** _what?_** ”

            “Well somebody had to after the way she was treated,” she replied, getting angry herself.

             “ ** _What?!_** ” he sputtered and she could almost see the veins popping on his forehead.

            “That woman lost her job and her home just because you couldn’t keep your temper, Inuyasha. What Sesshoumaru did to her wasn’t right,” she told him.

            “You’re joking! Pregnancy has made you insane,” he countered.

            “How am I insane, Inuyasha? You were the one who gouged her car and threatened her life. She had every right to seek compensation for that.”

            “She wouldn’t take the settlements!” he insisted. “Sesshoumaru offered her two and she refused both! She kept trying to file charges and she even hired someone to trail you at your school!”

            She snapped. “Yes, a private investigator that Sesshoumaru ordered killed!”

            “He was  ** _following_**  you!”

            “So what? For that Sesshoumaru had him eliminated? Was he even given a chance to back out? Since when do we condone murder?”

            “We were  ** _protecting_**  you! All he had to do was take pictures of you with Yukio and you would have gotten thrown out of school.”

            “That wasn’t worth a man’s life. I’d rather have been kicked out of high school than live with a man’s death on my conscience!”

            He took a deep breath and backed down a little which surprised her, then she looked at Mariko and saw her standing with her hands together and her fingertips to her lips.

_‘Probably trying to Project calm…’_

            “Okay, okay. You’re right about the P.I. If I’d known about it ahead of time, I would have interfered, but the truth is Kagome we were in Alberta and neither of us knew what was going on,” he admitted.

            “Exactly. You left this situation in the hands of your ruthless, narcissistic brother.”

            “Well what were we supposed to do? We couldn’t come back to Japan to handle it ourselves because our  ** _younger selves were still here_**. Besides, it wasn’t like it started out nasty. Sesshoumaru offered her ten million yen in the beginning and she slapped him with a civil suit. You know he wasn’t going to stand for that,” he argued.

            “She was within her rights to file charges.”

            “And do what? Drag you into court?” he snapped. “Two things could have happened, Kagome. One, the court date could have been set for before the well closed and you would have had to go testify. You would have had to Seal me to keep me away or I would have come in with you and caused trouble. You  ** _know_**  how I was back then. Or two, the court date could have been set for after the well was sealed, and we would have had to come back to Japan from Alberta.

            “In both cases she would have had to testify that I damaged her car and threatened her life. Unless she wanted to lie, she would have had to admit that I’d done the damage with my bare hands, and accuse me of being a hanyou, which would have gotten her medical license revoked and her ass committed for delusions.

            “At least this way, she gets to keep her career, gets a nice cushy settlement and free airfare to wherever the fuck she wants to go. And we don’t get slammed for something I did 450 years ago. Please explain to me what your problem is with that.”

            She shook her head and clenched her fists. “I don’t know. It’s just not right. It’s not right that she should lose everything and her little girl have to suffer because of it. It’s not right that that poor man was killed. What if he had a family? People who depended on him? Our family abused its power and destroyed more than one life because we didn’t want to be inconvenienced.”

            “And none of it would have happened if she’d taken the fucking settlement to begin with!” he yelled.

            “Peace! Peace!” Mariko interrupted and they both looked at her. “What is done is done. All we can do now is send her love and pray that her new life will prove to be happier. Perhaps this needed to happen for her to be able to move on. In the end, this may very well be the best thing that’s ever happened to her or her daughter. As for the poor soul who was killed, there is nothing we can do for him now. If you so desire, I will investigate if he has family and do what I can to see to it that they are provided for.”

            “Anonymously,” Inuyasha insisted firmly. “I don’t want our family dragged any further into this shit.”

            Mariko nodded. “Of course.”

            “So did it help?” he asked Kagome suddenly.

            “Huh?” she replied.

            “Did going to see that bitch help? Did she forgive you? Did she say she was sorry? Or did she just tell you to fuck off?”

            Kagome blushed and looked at her hands. “She just yelled and told me to fuck off.”

            Inuyasha snorted. “I thought so.”

            She raised her eyes to look at him. “But  ** _I_**  felt better. Once my nerves settled down, that is. I knew that I had done what I could to try to help the situation. Besides, we met her little girl and found out she’s Gifted. Mariko was able to talk to her for a few moments.”

            Inuyasha let out a mirthless laugh. “Now don’t  ** _that_**  beat all. Probably tells the kid she’s hallucinating all the time. Maybe someone should charge  ** _her_**  with emotional abuse of a child.”

            Kagome didn’t grace his comment with a reply. Instead she looked out the window at the birds in the backyard.

_‘Kami-sama I’m tired.’_

            “I’m still mad at you,” Inuyasha’s voice said coldly, drawing her attention back to him.

            “You didn’t tell me where you were going because you knew I’d object so you just went behind my back. I really hate that Kagome. You put yourself and the pup in danger and I’m very upset about that,” he continued when she met his hard gaze.

            “Mariko was with me. I knew she would keep me safe,” she replied in her own defense, but she was starting to feel badly about deceiving him. She knew his anger was hiding a deeper hurt.

            “That’s not the point.”

            “I know and I’m sorry. Ever since Yukio told me about what happened at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, I’ve felt horribly about it. Our family is honorable and respected here. It wasn’t right how we used our influence to bully her. What if the tables had been turned and it had been you or me that was being treated so poorly? Would<b _you have backed down if someone was trying to intimidate and threaten you?”_

            He scowled but didn’t answer, and she knew he couldn’t argue because he would have done the same thing if he had been in Dr. Ishimoro’s position.

            “It was wrong of me to go behind your back, but I knew you wouldn’t let me go if I told you, and it was something I  ** _needed_**  to do. I took Mariko because she had the best chance of being able to help the situation. I did my best to make sure I stayed safe and didn’t risk myself or the baby. And I  ** _didn’t_**. I’m just very  ** _tired_**  right now.”

            “I can attest to that, Papa. Mama was safe the entire time. She stayed calm even when Dr. Ishimoro started screaming at her,” Mariko added.

            “She screamed at you?” he asked, his eyes flashing rage.

            She waved it off. “A little. She wasn’t at all happy to see me or the fact that I was pregnant.”

            His face darkened. “I can imagine. Did she... did she touch you?”

            “No. She never came anywhere near me.”

            “I wouldn’t have allowed it,” Mariko assured him.

            “I thought it was funny when she said she’d charge us with trespassing. Sesshoumaru owns the management company who takes care of that building,” she commented.

            “I know.”

            She smiled softly. “Then we ran into Yuka, Eri, Ayumi and Houjou. Yuka and Houjou are dating. I’m very happy for them. I told them we were getting married and they wanted to be in the wedding.”

            “Keh. Oh, that’ll be fun.” He scowled. “And don’t change the subject on me, wench! I’m still mad at you.”

            She frowned and looked at her hands.

            “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I wouldn’t have done it differently, though. I would have gone regardless.”

            “I know. That’s because you’re as stubborn as I am. This pup is going to be the most hard-headed kid on the planet if he gets both of our stubborn-streaks from us.”

            She offered him her hand. “But we always work it out. We’ll admit when we’re wrong when we have to. I know it’s rare, but it has happened on occasion.”

            He accepted her hand and held it tight. His body language told her that he was still upset, but that had more to do with her deceit and his worry about her safety than actual anger.

            “Rare occasions,” he admitted, then glared at her. “Don’t ever go behind my back like that again Kagome.”

            “If I had come to you ahead of time, would you have let me go?”

            He sighed. “I won’t lie. I would have said no. But if you had insisted I would not have stopped you. I’ve never been able to deny you anything, Kagome. But this time you didn’t even give me the chance. You just did what you wanted, regardless of my feelings and went behind my back.”

_‘And that’s the real issue here.’_

            “I know. I’m sorry. That was wrong of me.”

            He huffed and glared for another few moments, then softened when she yawned.

             _‘He never could stay mad at me,’_  she thought with an inward smile as he brushed the hair from her brow with his free hand.

            “You should go lie down. You’re tired and I know you overtaxed yourself today.”

            “Yes, I ought to,” she agreed.

            He tugged on her hand and braced her under the arm with the other as he helped her stand up. Mariko came over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

            “Sleep well, Mama. I’ll be here when you get up.”

            “I will. Thank you for your help and support today.”

            “Always, Mama. I’ll see you later.”

            “Okay.”

            Her daughter left the room as Inuyasha escorted her into the hall.

            “You should probably go supervise those two in the garage before they damage something. While it might be a good idea for Miroku to learn how to take care of his cars, you and I both know he’s all thumbs when it comes to anything mechanical,” she told him.

            “Yukio has it under control, although I should go make sure he’s not letting Miroku do anything to that engine that he shouldn’t be. It took me long enough to get that piece of crap running,” he replied.

            She smiled and toddled to their bedroom.

            “What do you want to do about dinner?” Inuyasha asked.

            “Aren’t Eri and Rumiko coming over? We were going to go out.”

            He nodded. “Will you be up to it?”

            “I think so,” she answered, sitting down on the bed.

            “All right then,” he replied, kneeling down on one knee to help her take off her shoes. “We’ll decide where we’ll go after you wake up.”

            She yawned as she pulled her large maternity dress over her head. “Good idea.”

            He handed her a billowy cotton nightgown and she slipped it on; lying down to curl on her side as Inuyasha pulled the covers up around her shoulders.

            “Sleep well, koi,” he whispered as he kissed her on the temple.

            “Mmmmm. Love you,” she sighed as she let sleep take her.

            “I love you too. I’m still mad, but I’ll let you make it up to me later,” he murmured suggestively, with a lick to her earlobe.           

            She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled.

            “Hentai dog.”

            She didn’t hear his answer because she was already asleep.

 


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty-Two

 

            Nearly four weeks to the day later, Mama was awakened from her light sleep by a loud knocking on the bedroom door. Because it was getting so close to Kagome’s due date, she’d taken to spending the nights at Tokyo House so she would be able to go to the hospital with them when Kagome went into labor.

            She rolled over and the knocking came again, then Inuyasha’s head popped in through the opened door.

            “Get up. It’s time,” he said.

            She didn’t have to be told twice, and in minutes she was out of bed and pulling on the clothes she had laid out at the foot of the mattress before she went to sleep. Yanking on her shirt, she moved into the hall and met Inuyasha carrying Kagome down the stairs. Her daughter looked pale and haggard.

            “Kagome? Are you all right?”

            Kagome nodded. “Yeah, Mama.”

            “How far apart are your contractions?”

            “About twenty minutes.”

            “Okay, we have plenty of time then.”

            “Keh, speak for yourself,” Inuyasha replied, hurrying to get Kagome down to the car.

            The rest of the household was rousing and Miroku came barreling down the stairs carrying his mother’s hospital bag.

            “I’ve got the bag,” he announced.

            “Car’s out front,” Yukio added, coming in the front door. He was shirt and shoe-less, and looked disheveled.

            Mama took the bag from Miroku and went out the door with Inuyasha.

            “We’ll follow behind,” Yukio told them as Inuyasha put Kagome in the passenger seat of the silver BMW.

            Inuyasha grunted a reply as she slipped into the back seat of the car, the bag beside her. She had barely closed the door when Inuyasha hopped into the driver’s seat and threw the car into gear. It lurched forward and Kagome gave a groan.

            “Are you alright, Kagome?” she asked.

            “I’ve got a headache,” her daughter answered, then cringed as a contraction hit her.

            “Okay, now count the minutes between them,” she prompted.

            “They’re already getting closer together. They started out a half-hour apart and that was just an hour and a half ago, and that one was only sixteen. I don’t know how I could have ever confused false labor with this. There’s no doubt in my mind that this baby is coming tonight,” Kagome admitted.

            “You said the doctor told you the baby had turned last week so we knew it would be soon.”

            She saw Kagome nod. “Yeah.”

            Inuyasha cursed at Tokyo traffic and cut the curb, cutting off a delivery truck to merge onto the street. “Four o’clock in the morning and the assholes are already out.” He slammed on the horn as another car pulled out in front of him. “Get the fuck out of my way!” he screamed out the window.

            “Inuyasha, please calm down,” Kagome admonished gently.

            “I should have made Sesshoumaru send a helicopter!”

            “Relax. Everything is fine,” Kagome assured him.

            “Everything is  ** _not_**  fine! You’re having the pup!”

            “Yes, but I’m not having it right this minute.”

            He swerved to avoid oncoming traffic, swearing like a sailor and honking.

            “Inuyasha, you’re driving on the wrong side of the road!” Mama cried, realizing that her son-in-law was in the oncoming travel lane. In his haste and upset, he’d obviously forgotten that traffic drove on the left in Japan.

            “Shit!” he cursed and swerved to the left. “I fucking forgot you drive on the left here. Are you okay, Kagome?”

            “Aside from the sudden heart attack, yes.”

            Ten minutes later, as Inuyasha took a corner too tightly, Kagome winced again.

            “Twelve minutes. They are getting closer together,” she commented, suddenly feeling not quite so at ease. They were still a fair distance from the hospital and the Tokyo streets were crowded with delivery trucks.

            “Yeah,” Kagome agreed, putting one hand on her head and another on her womb. “But at least my water hasn’t broken yet.”

            Six minutes later there was a splashing sound and Kagome groaned.

            “I spoke too soon,” her daughter moaned as the smell of amniotic fluid filled the car.

            “Kagome? Kagome what does this mean?” Inuyasha cried, his voice slightly panicked as he stepped on the gas. “Is the pup coming  ** _right now?_** ”

            “No, not yet. My contractions are still too far apart. It means Miroku will have to get this car professionally cleaned. I’m sorry.”

            “What the fuck are you sorry for?” he blurted, casting Kagome a wide-eyed glance.

            “I made a mess all over the leather.”

            “Like I give a shit about that right now!” A horn blared and Inuyasha popped the car onto the sidewalk to avoid another truck. “Mother fucking son-of-a-bitch!”

            “Inuyasha!” Kagome screamed, grabbing the handle above her head as he yanked the car back into the street.

            “Well, I’m sorry but he just came right in front of us!”

            “Because you ran a red light!”

            “Where?”

            “Back there at the last intersection!”

            “I did not!”

            “You did to!”

            “I did not. There wasn’t even a light there!”

            “Yes there was!”

            “No there wasn’t!”

            Kagome groaned and doubled over.

            “Kagome??” Inuyasha cried.

            “Ten minutes. Shit, Inuyasha we have to hurry…”

            “Okay. Okay. Just hold on, koi. I’ll get you there. Just hold on.”

            “I’m trying.”

            Three minutes later they came to a screeching halt outside the emergency entrance of Hirata. Inuyasha leaped out of the car and literally jumped over the hood to practically rip the passenger-side door off its hinges in order to get to Kagome and lift her out. Mama was still struggling with the overnight bag when Inuyasha whisked Kagome into the emergency room and she rushed to catch up.

            “Fushikenwa Kagome. She’s having a pup!” he yelled as he skidded to a stop in front of the triage nurse.

            The nurse was unphased. “Who’s her doctor?”

            “Hattori.”

            “Ennosuke or Taro?”

            “How the hell should I know! He’s never said!”

            “Okay, okay.”

            Two orderlies came over with a stretcher and he put Kagome down on it. The nurse then handed him some paperwork as Kagome was wheeled away.

            “Fill these out then you can go in with her.”

            “Are you  ** _insane?_** My mate is having a pup. Her contractions are ten minutes apart. I don’t have  ** _time_**  to fill out your fucking paperwork!”

            “You should have her files on record,” Mama said, coming up to the desk. “She was here two months ago for a false labor and admitted overnight for observation. You can get all the insurance and physician’s information from the existing entry.”

            “Name?” the nurse asked.

            “Fushikenwa Kagome! I already said that. Are you fucking deaf too?” Inuyasha roared.

            The nurse flashed him a withering glare. “Spell that please.”

            “F-u-s-h-i-k-e-n-w-a,” Mama answered because it looked like her son-in-law was going to pop a vein at any moment.

            “Kagome,” the nurse said, reading the screen. “Okay. The maternity ward is through the doors, down the hall, turn left and go through another set of doors. Get a set of scrubs from the duty nurse and you can then go in with your wife.”

            “Me as well? I’m her mother,” she asked.

            “Anyone who was listed as being allowed in the room by the patient may go in. The duty nurse will have the list.”

            “What’s going on? Where is Okaa-san?” Miroku demanded, running up to them.

            “They’ve taken her back to the maternity ward,” she explained. “Where’s Yukio?”

            “Moving the BMW. Otou-san left it running in front of the emergency room doors.”

            “We’re going in. Go to the maternity ward waiting room when he gets here and start making calls,” she said, then turned to Inuyasha only to find empty air. She looked to see the ward doors swinging slowly, one of them slightly off of its hinges. She sighed. “I have to go.”

            Her grandson nodded and she hurried off. She caught up to Inuyasha in the maternity ward receiving area while he struggled with the flimsy paper hospital scrubs they were insisting they wear.

            “God-damn, fucking piece of shit…” he was growling as he practically ripped the paper pants when he pulled them on.

            The duty nurse looked at her. “Are you the mother-in-law?”

            She nodded, putting down the overnight bag.

            The nurse handed her a set of scrubs. “She’s in delivery room 2. Her doctor has been paged.”

            “Thank you.”

            Another string of curses made her turn to Inuyasha and she quickly helped him pull the hospital gown on.

            “Leave your hair tucked in,” she told him as she put the cap on his head. It wasn’t large enough to cover all of his long silver hair so it was best that he leave the rest of it underneath the scrub shirt.

            “Okay. Thanks,” he replied, shoving the paper booties on over his bare feet.

            He was gone before she even had a chance to give him his gloves.

            “They’ll give him another set when he gets to the delivery room. Don’t worry, we’re used to this. There’s actually a changing room just through the doors,” the nurse said with an amused smile.

            “Thank you,” she replied and made her way to the aforementioned room.

            She was just opening the door to come out when she heard people talking in the hall.

            “She’s in room 2?” a female voice asked.

            ‘ _Room 2. That’s Kagome’s room,_ ’ she thought, pausing to listen.

            “Yes. Blood pressure is 150 over 90,” a male voice answered.

            “That’s too high. Where is her doctor?”

            “We can’t find him.”

            “Has a urinalysis been done?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “Where are her records?”

            “We can’t find them either.”

            “Call the surgeon on duty.”

            “Already did, but we have eight emergencies from that apartment fire downtown and he’s swamped. We’ve got some residents on their way, but they’re not here yet.”

            “How far apart are her contractions?”

            “Ten minutes.”

            “Dilation?”

            “Six centimeters.”

            “Shit. Pull a midwife from the birthing center. It’s the best we can do until a doctor gets here.”

            “Already done.”

            “Then why are you talking to me?”

            “You’re the head nurse.”

            Mama cleared her throat and exited the changing room. The two nurses in medical scrubs froze and stared at her. One of them, a male with shocking purple hair, looked as if he’d just come out of an operating room. She gave them a nod, quelling her growing panic.

_‘High blood pressure and no doctor. This isn’t good.’_

            “Room 2?” she asked.

            The male blinked and pointed one clawed finger to a room two doors down. She nodded in thanks and hurried to it. Kagome was on the table, her feet propped in the stirrups and a hospital sheet covering her lower half for modesty’s sake. A host of machines and electrodes had been hooked up to her to monitor her vital signs and those of the baby’s. Inuyasha was by her side, holding her hand and talking softly to her. She passed the nurse in the room as she moved to the opposite side and took her daughter’s other hand.

            “Kagome,” she said.

            Kagome turned her head and looked blankly at her. She was sweaty and her eyes looked dazed.

            “Mama.”

            “Do you remember your breathing exercises?”

            Kagome nodded.

            “Okay then. Let’s breathe.”

            “It hurts.”

            “I know, but it’s okay. It’ll be over soon. Breathe with me now, okay?”

            “Okay.”

            Mama started the rhythm and encouraged Inuyasha to help as well, coaxing him to take the counter-breath pattern. Kagome’s contractions were still ten minutes apart when the door opened and the purple-haired male entered with a new woman, this one with bright red hair.

            “Kagome-san,” the newcomer said. “I’m Botan. I’m a midwife. I’m here to help you with the birth.”

            “Where… where is my doctor?” her daughter asked.

            “Dr. Hattori has been paged but he hasn’t arrived yet.”

            Inuyasha growled. “I knew that damn doctor was a jerk! I knew it!”

            “I’m sure he’s on his way, senpai,” Botan assured him, then lifted the sheet. “I’m just going to take a peek and see how far along you are, okay.”

            Kagome didn’t answer as another contraction hit her and she cried out.

            “Oh my, that was a big one, but you can’t push quite yet. You’re only six centimeters,” Botan said. “But it looks like you’re moving right along like a pro. How many babies have you given birth to before this?”

            “What do you mean?” Inuyasha demanded. “This is my mate’s first time.”

            “Oh. Well, for a first timer, you’re doing great.”

            “It hurts,” Kagome repeated.

            “I know, but if you keep progressing like this, you’ll have this baby in no time,” the midwife comforted.

            “BP 160 over 90,” the nurse who had already been in the room said.

            Although no one said anything, the tension in the room increased. Mama looked at Kagome, trying very hard not to alarm her but she knew the blood pressure was a problem.

            “How is the baby’s heart?” she asked instead.

            The nurse looked at the monitor. “Fetus’ heart is steady.”

            “Okay, Kagome, I think it would be best if we get this baby out of you as soon as we can, okay?” Botan coached.

            “I’m doing my best here,” her daughter replied. “It hurts.”

            “You keep saying that Kagome. Can you tell me what hurts?” the midwife asked a little too calmly.

            “My head. And… and my upper abdomen.”

            “Where is the doctor?” Botan questioned.

            “No one knows,” the purple-haired nurse replied.

            “Tell the head nurse to prep a surgical team. I think we’re going to need it.”

            “We don’t have a surgeon.”

            “Well find one.”

            “What’s going on?” Inuyasha demanded.

            “Just making sure we’re prepared for anything,” the midwife soothed, but her voice was false.

            “Don’t lie to me! What’s wrong?”

            “Inuyasha,” Mama said carefully, fixing him with a look. “Everything will be fine as long as this baby comes soon.”

            She had to give him credit for how much he had matured. He wasn’t nearly as dense as he used to be because he narrowed his eyes and scowled.

            “Okay, koi. This pup wants born, so let’s get it out, okay,” he said encouragingly, obviously trying not to alarm her.

            Kagome nodded and gripped his hand tightly. “I’ll try.”

            An hour later, Kagome was still only dilated six centimeters and her contractions were still ten minutes apart. And there was still no sign of Dr. Hattori. The only good news was that her blood pressure seemed to have stabilized at 160/90, still way too high but not life threatening.

            “All right, what have we got here?” Dr. Hattori said cheerfully as he breezed in without so much as a word of explanation as to where he had been. “Oh my, it looks like you’re having a baby, my dear.”

            When he went to pat Kagome on the belly Inuyasha nearly bit his hand off.

            “Where the fuck have you been asshole? My mate’s been here for over an hour.”

            “Doctor, the patient’s blood pressure is very high. I suspect she is pre-eclamptic,” Botan said quietly so Kagome would not hear her. “I would recommend sedation and an immediate Caesarean.”

            The doctor looked at the midwife and Mama did not like the expression on his face.

            “Are you a doctor?” he asked.

            “No, but I have been a midwife for over three hundred years. I know the signs.”

            “Her blood pressure is high, true, but I’d rather not resort to such drastic measures just yet.”

            “Doctor,” Botan said through gritted teeth. “If nothing is done the patient could progress into full-blown eclampsia.”

            “Nonsense.” He smiled at Kagome. “You’re doing fine, my dear. There’s nothing to be worried about.” He turned back to the midwife. “Your services are no longer needed.”

            “With all due respect, doctor, I’d rather stay.”

            “ ** _I_**  want her to stay!” Inuyasha added forcefully. “ ** _Someone_**  in this room should know what the fuck they’re doing!”

            Dr. Hattori scowled. “Just don’t get in my way.”

            He practically pushed her aside to look under the sheet. Inuyasha growled menacingly at his callous treatment of the midwife and familiar way with Kagome.

            “Well, it looks like we’re up to 7cm, my dear. Everything is going to be just fine.”

            Kagome didn’t answer and Mama did not like the look in her eyes.

            “Kagome?” she asked.

            “It hurts. Mama, it hurts,” her daughter whispered.

            “Your head?”

            Kagome nodded.

            “Doctor, the patient is complaining of a headache and upper abdominal pain,” Botan ground-out angrily.

            “Thank you for that information,” the doctor replied dismissively.

            Botan’s eyes narrowed. “Where is your father?” she asked suddenly.

            “My father is not needed here. This woman is my patient.”

            Mama saw Botan cast the purple-haired nurse a glance and the male nodded. A moment later he slipped out of the room.

            “Where are you going?” Dr. Hattori demanded to his retreating back. “Get back here at once!” He rounded on the midwife. “I’ll have your job for this!”

            Botan did not answer.

            “There’s something wrong, isn’t there?” Kagome asked, her voice faint. “I’ve heard you talking...”

            “Your blood pressure is very high, Kagome,” Mama admitted.

            “Is there protein in my urine?” she asked, her eyes suddenly clear.

            Mama shook her head. “I don’t know.”

            “High blood pressure... that isn’t good. The baby... how is my baby?”

            Inuyasha hurried to calm her. “The pup seems fine, koi. He just hasn’t decided if he’s ready to come out just yet.”

            “Indecisive... like his father,” she joked weakly. “I need... We need to get him out... He has to come out. If he doesn’t...”

            “BP up to 170 over 100,” the remaining nurse announced.

            “Kagome. Kagome, listen, you need to calm down. If you don’t calm down, you’ll make it worse,” Mama tried.

            “If the blood pressure is too high, it could hurt the baby.”

            “Yes, we know, but we’ve got it under control. We need you to help us by trying to stay calm.”

            “No, you don’t understand. The blood flow could… He could suffocate…”

            “The monitors say the baby is fine. Good strong heartbeat,” Mama assured.

            “But he’s at risk. My baby’s at risk!” Kagome insisted, her eyes wide with fear.

            “BP 180 over 110!”

            “Kagome! Kagome listen to me,” Mama urged.

            “Kagome. Kagome, hold my hand and calm down...” Inuyasha said, trying to get her to look at him.

            Kagome’s eyes glazed over and she began to pant heavily.

            “Doctor!” the midwife shouted.

            Dr. Hattori looked stressed and flustered. “My dear, you’re overreacting. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

            “BP 200 over 120 and rising!”

            “My baby. Kami-sama, my baby.”

            “Kagome!” Inuyasha yelled.

            “220 over 130!”

            “My baby!”

            “Kagome!!”

            “240 over 145!”

            “ ** _Save my baby!!_** ”

            “KAGOME!”

            “250 over 155!!”

            Kagome screamed.

            “ ** _KAGOME!!!”_**

            Two things happened next. One, the purple haired nurse came back with an older looking youkai doctor close at his heels, and two, Kagome lost consciousness.

            “Kagome!?” Inuyasha cried. “Kagome! KAGOME!”

            “What the hell is going on here?!” the new doctor demanded.

            “Doctor, this patient is eclamptic!” the midwife told him, desperation in her voice.

            “Patient has lost consciousness!” the purple-haired nurse announced.

            “BP 255 over 160!”

            “WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY MATE?!!”

            The older doctor seized control of the situation. “Get a surgical team in here immediately. We need to perform a Caesarean.” He turned to the younger doctor and pointed. “You! I’ll deal with you later. Get out!” He turned to Mama and Inuyasha, who was still trying to get Kagome to respond to him. “I’m sorry. We need you to clear the room.”

            “I’M NOT LEAVING!”

            “Inuyasha, we need to get out of the way!” Mama told him.

            He was wild-eyed, panicked and practically incoherent as four new staff members came bursting into the room in a flurry of activity.

            “Orderlies, clear the room!” the new doctor ordered.

            Mama was already moving, but two bull-youkai orderlies had to grab Inuyasha by the arms and drag him out of the delivery room.

            “No! Kagom-e-e-e!!! KAGOME-E-E-E!!!”

            The last thing they saw was Kagome going into convulsions on the table. Inuyasha screamed and dropped to the floor.

 

********

 

            Yukio was with a number of his siblings in the private waiting room they had been directed to when heard his father start screaming and a cold feeling of dread filled him. Over the past hour Eri, Izayoi, Tetsu, Shippou and his mate, Mariko, Kitarou, Tomo and Rumiko had all arrived and others were on the way. At his side Kenshuga pulsed and he could feel the power in the sword flaring and roiling. A moment later two bull-youkais dragged an incoherent Inuyasha into the waiting room. His grandmother wasn’t far behind. They dropped his father unceremoniously to the floor and disappeared behind the ward doors, then the doors flared and he felt them Seal shut.

            “Otou-san!” he cried and ran to his father’s slumped form.

            Inuyasha was struggling to sit up, his claws cutting through the gloves on his hands.

            “Kagome... Kagome...” he was calling faintly.

            He looked up at his grandmother who was shaking.

            “Mama-baachan?”

            Before she could answer him, his father choked and began to convulse.

            “Otou-san!!” he yelled, helpless as his father thrashed on the tile floor.

            “Oh Kami-sama!” he heard Rumiko gasp.

            “Kagome!” Shippou yelled, reminding all of them that if Inuyasha was convulsing then Kagome must also be suffering the same.

            His cry was echoed by Inuyasha, who had stopped convulsing and was rising to his knees.

            “Kagome. Kagome. Kagome.”

            He was a mess, blood pouring from his mouth where he had bitten his lip during the seizure. It was staining his wild hair and the paper scrubs he wore, and spilling into the white floor. As Yukio watched, horrified, Inuyasha crawled for the ward doors, laying hands on them and ignoring the pulse of barrier energy.

            “Kagome!”

            He scratched at the doors, his claws gouging the stainless steel surface.

            “Kagome! Kagome!”

            Digging his claws into the wall next to the doors, his father pulled himself to his feet and began pounding on them with one fist, calling his mother’s name over and over, his voice rising with each desperate blow.

            “Kagome. Kagome. Kagome! Kagome! Kagome! Kagome!”

            Another wave of paroxysms shook him but he remained standing with what looked like the force of his own will as he roared in defiance.

            “KAG-O-ME-E-E-E!!” Inuyasha howled, slamming his fist right into the plaster.

            “OTOU-SAN!” Yukio answered.

            Inuyasha jerked once, then twice, his head snapping back and his choked cry cut off in mid-scream as he collapsed to the floor and did not move.

             ** _‘No!’_**  “NOOOOO!!!!”

            Yukio slid on his knees to his father’s side and turned the inert body over.

            “Otou-san! Otou-san!”

            Inuyasha’s eyes were blank and staring ahead.

            “No. No, please. Please... Otou! OTOU!!”

            Mariko’s hands super-imposed on his as they reached for his father’s chest.

            “He’s still alive,” she said, her voice strained. “His soul still resides firmly within his body.”

            “And Okaa-san?” he managed.

            “I see the red cord that ties them together. It is weak, but there. Both of them are still with us.”

_‘Oh thank god!’_

            “Inuyasha! Kagome! What is going on?” Shippou cried.

            “Mama! Papa!”

            “Otou-san! Okaa-san!”

            He looked to his grandmother.

            “Mama-baachan?”

            She was pale and trembling. “Kagome... Kagome went into eclampsia in the delivery room.”

            “Eclampsia? What the hell is that?” he demanded.

            “It’s a condition caused when blood pressure goes too high during pregnancy,” Izayoi answered softly. “It can cause convulsions and coma.”

            “They were preparing to do an emergency Caesarean when they made us leave,” Mama-baachan added.

            “What was her blood pressure when they made you leave?” Izayoi asked.

            “The last number I heard shouted was 255 over 160.”

            “ ** _255 over 160!!_** But that... that could  ** _kill_**  her!”

            “Kagome lost consciousness. And then... then...”

            “She went into convulsions,” Mariko finished, piecing the story together.

            The room erupted into pandemonium. Half a dozen voices all clamored to be heard at once, all demanding answers he didn’t have, and Tetsukazu, huddled on the far side of the room, began to wail and slam his head against the wall.

            It was too much for Yukio to grasp at once. His father was unconscious. His mother... her condition was unknown, but it was obvious from his father that she was in severe distress. Tetsu was going into full melt-down. He had no idea what had become of the newborn. It was entirely possible that they could lose both parents and the pup within the next hour. He had no idea what to do. He had no idea what was going to happen. Everyone was shouting and crying and there was chaos everywhere.

            The bile rose up in his throat as he tried to get a handle on the situation and quell his rising panic. Lose one and you lose both. He’d been brought up knowing that. If anything happened to one of his parents, the other would die as well. What would they do if Inuyasha and Kagome died? What would become of the pack and the family? What would become of the pup if it had survived?

            ‘ _You are Beta-male_ ,’ a voice that sounded like his father’s whispered in his mind, but he knew it was just an echo from the past. ‘ _You must lead_.’

             _‘Lead? I can’t lead! I’m not the kind of leader my father is!’_  he argued with himself.

             _‘The pack will look to you. You are Aniki.’_

_‘Aniki! **Aniki**  not Leader-Male! I’m not... I’m not...’_

_‘You are.’_

_‘I can’t...’_

_‘You must.’_

             _‘How? How can I?’_

_‘You must.’_

_‘I can’t do it without him! I don’t know how!’_

_‘You have all you need within you.’_

_‘They won’t follow me.’_

_‘They will. You are your father’s son.’_

            He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. There was no time for grief or fear or hesitation.

_‘I am my father’s son.’_

            “I am my father’s son,” he whispered to himself. “And my father raised me... to be strong.”

            Standing under his own power in spite of the anguish and nausea that wracked his body, Yukio pulled himself together and faced the room, his father’s prone body directly behind his bare feet. Choking back the tears and sobs that threatened to rip their way out of his throat, he pulled Kenshuga from its sheath and held it horizontally over his head.

            The room abruptly fell silent. 

            Looking around, he saw that all eyes were trained on him with the sole exception of Tetsukazu, who was still wailing, banging his head against the wall, and ripping out his own hair.

             _‘Okay. Now what?’_ he asked himself.

             _‘Now you lead,’_  the inner voice answered.

             _‘Yeah, okay. And I do that how?’_

_‘Give them something to do.’_

_‘Okay. Tetsu first,’_  he decided as he sheathed his sword

            “Izayoi, please see to Tetsu,” he said in a steady voice, which surprised him because he didn’t feel steady at all. His sister obeyed without question and ran to the dragon-hanyou.

            “Mariko, please help her. Use your powers to calm him down before he hurts himself.”

            Mariko nodded and went to Izayoi’s side.

             _‘Okay, what’s next? Otou-san. He must be kept safe while he’s helpless like this.’_

            “Tomo, Kitarou, pick up Otou-san and put him on the couch over there. Don’t let anyone near him.”

            The two brothers moved behind him and gently picked up their father, carrying him over to the couch and standing guard.

            “Who has a fast car?” he asked.

            Shippou raised his hand. “I do.”

             _‘Shippou is your elder. Will he obey?’_  he wondered. The answer was clear.

            “Shippou go. Take your car and drive to Zenko-ji. Bring back Midorikyou. She more than anyone knows the most about the spell that binds Otou-san and Okaa-san together. Maybe…” He paused to swallow the lump in his throat. “Maybe we can separate them.”  _‘Otou-san will never forgive me if she dies.’_

            The kitsune nodded.

            “Fly Shippou. Fly as if… as if Naraku was back and chasing your heels.”

            Shippou paled but obeyed, dashing out of the waiting room.

            “Has anyone gotten in touch with Uncle?”

            “I’ve been trying to reach him on his cell phone. So far I’ve come up with nothing,” Eri replied. “I’ve left three messages.”

            He nodded. He had a vague memory of Aunt Rin telling him she and Uncle would be in the Western Lands at Grandfather’s House for a few days.

             _‘Knowing Uncle though, he’s probably already on his way. Okay now what?’_

             _‘Name your Beta,’_  said the inner voice.

             _‘Okay.’_

            “Tomo?”

            “Y-yes?”

            “Do you want Beta?”

            The bat-hanyou looked horrified and shook his head.

            “Okay. Miroku, you are my Second. Eri, you are First Female. In my absence, look to them. They will speak for me,” he announced.

 _‘This is getting easier. But I won’t get used to it. As soon as Otou-san is back on his feet, he’s Alpha again.’_  He looked around.  _‘Okay. Now what?’_

             _‘Now, we wait,_ ’ he answered himself.

            There was an eerie quiet in the room. Tetsukazu had stopped wailing, but was still sniffling and clinging to Izayoi as if his very life depended upon it.

             _‘He knew,’_  Yukio suddenly realized, feeling a rush of pity for his youngest sibling.  _‘He knew and couldn’t tell anyone or do anything about it. Kami-sama, that boy is cursed.’_

            What would he have done if he had known this would happen ahead of time?

             _‘I’d have gone crazy if I couldn’t change it.’_  A sudden realization struck him as he remembered Tetsu’s questions about the tests the doctor was running.  _‘He was trying. He was trying to warn us. Oh, poor Tetsu. You must have been dying inside all this time.’_

            He strode over to where his brother lay shivering in Izayoi’s arms and knelt on one knee beside him.

            “Tetsu,” he said softly, gently. “Tetsu, do they live?” He had to know.

            Tears streaming from his violet eyes, Tetsu shook his head. “I... I don’t know. I don’t know. I didn’t... I didn’t See that far.”

            “Only that the pup was born alive,” he confirmed.

            Tetsu nodded. “I heard his first-breath cry.”

            “What else did you see?” he pressed.

            “Blood. And... and darkness.”

            “But you didn’t see death?”

            “N... no,” Tetsu replied shakily.

            Yukio looked to Mariko. “Mariko? You have the Sight too. What have you Seen?”

            His sister shook her head. “I don’t See the way Tetsu does. I don’t get visions, only impressions and feelings.”

            “What are your impressions?”  _‘Are we all going to be orphans by the end of the night?’_

            She gave him an apologetic smile. “It’s not decided yet. The future is in their hands right now.”

            “Is there anything we can do to help?”

            She shook her head. “No. I have set Intentions, but in the end they will decide the ultimate outcome.”

            He nodded, slightly disappointed, and patted Tetsu on the sounder, ignoring the younger hanyou’s flinch. He saw that his brother had one hand clutched tightly around Jyu-shi-Kenshuga so there was no way he was Seeing anything.

            “Thank you, Tetsu.”

            “I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you anything,” Tetsu apologized.

            “It’s all right. I know you’ve told me what you can. We’ll get through this, all of us together. And I am sure that Otou-san and Okaa-san are fighting to stay with us.”

            Just then, the doors un-Sealed and opened, admitting an older-looking youkai doctor into the waiting room. He was dressed in soiled surgical scrubs that were smeared with blood and he looked haggard.

            “Fushikenwa?” the doctor asked.

            Yukio stood and approached the newcomer warily. He smelled vaguely familiar and also carried the scent of his mother’s blood.

            “I am the eldest,” he replied.

            The doctor cast about the room, his eyes falling on the unconscious Inuyasha just before the two ‘guards’ blocked his view.

            “Your father...”

            “Has been sedated,” Eri lied smoothly, coming up to them.

_‘Eri, bless you.’_

            “And unless you want him screaming and tearing this hospital down around your ears, I suggest he stay sedated,” she continued. “That is the famous Fushikenwa Inuyasha, son of Inutaisho, and half brother to Nishitaishou Sesshoumaru, and his sword is the legendary Tessaiga, capable of blasting this flimsy building into rubble with one blow.”

_‘Tessaiga which he left at home but this guy doesn’t need to know that.’_

            The doctor visibly paled and looked at him. “I am Dr. Hattori.”

            “You aren’t my mother’s doctor!” Miroku interrupted, coming towards them.

            Yukio heard his brother sniff deeply.

            “You smell like him though,” Miroku growled. “Baboon-youkai!”

            Dr. Hattori took a step back. “I am Hattori Ennosuke. The Hattori who was treating Fushikenwa-san is Hattori  ** _Taro_** , my son.”

            “Your son?” Yukio repeated.

             _‘He smells of fear and embarrassment,’_  he thought, taking a whiff.

            “Yes. Hattori Taro is my son.”

            Miroku growled again and grabbed the doctor by his shirt collar. “What did your incompetent jerk of a son do to my mother?”

            “Miroku, stand down,” he ordered gently, but firmly.

            Still growling lowly from deep in his throat, Miroku obeyed and stepped back.

            “I’m assuming you have news for us,” he then said coldly, pushing just a little because the doctor’s fear-scent had increased.

            Dr. Hattori cleared his throat. “Y-yes. I have good news. Your mother survived the birth as did the infant.”

            “The pup is alive?”

            “Yes, the newborn is alive and appears to be healthy. He has been taken to the nursery.”

            “ ** _He?_** ”

            “Yes, the infant is a boy.”

_‘A boy. We have a little brother.’_

            “And my mother? How is she now?”

            Dr. Hattori looked down at his hands. “She is in Intensive Care. She went into eclamptic toxemia during the delivery and suffered numerous seizures. She is currently comatose.”

            The words hit him like a brick, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from crying.  _‘Comatose. My mother is in a coma...’_

            “Did you perform the Caesarean?” Mama-baachan asked suddenly.

            The doctor shook his head. “We were preparing for it when Fushikenwa-san delivered the infant shortly after a seizure.”

            “Convulsions can trigger birth,” Izayoi commented from her place across the room.

            “In the end it was better because it allowed us to transfer your mother to the ICU very quickly. We were able to administer fluids and put her on a respirator,” the doctor continued.

            Izayoi left Tetsu with Mariko in order to come over to speak with the doctor directly.

            “Why wasn’t my mother’s pre-eclampsia diagnosed? High blood pressure is the primary warning sign of the condition. Wasn’t a urinalysis performed to screen for protein in her urine?” she demanded.

            Dr. Hattori looked uncomfortable. “It is unknown at this time exactly what tests were performed on Fushikenwa-san. I myself have not had the opportunity to look at her records.”

            “Have you found them?” Mama-baachan questioned.

            “Excuse me?” the doctor asked.

            “When I was changing into the sterile scrubs before joining my daughter and son-in-law in the delivery room, I overheard two nurses speaking. One of them said not only could my daughter’s doctor not be found, but neither could her records.”

            “I am not aware of any missing files at this time, but again, I have not had any time to review the case.”

            “My mother’s doctor in Alberta is Dr. Maggiano,” Yukio informed.

            “Maggiano? Teresa Maggiano?”  
            Yukio nodded. “Yeah.”

            Dr. Hattori’s face darkened and he took a deep breath. “Much is now explained and understood. I will call Dr. Maggiano personally. She and I have been long time colleagues and friends.”

            “So  ** _you’re_**  the Hattori who was supposed to be treating my mother and not your idiot son!” Miroku snapped.

            “I don’t know,” the doctor answered.

            ‘ _You’re covering your ass because you smell a lawsuit,’_  Yukio thought grimly.

            “On the night my mother was brought here because of a false labor,  ** _he_**  came in and said that Dr. Maggiano had referred my mother’s case to him. I know he did. I was in the room when he said so,” Miroku argued. “What the hell happened? Why weren’t you the one treating her?”

            “I am uncertain as to how your mother ended up as one of my son’s patients, but rest assured I will investigate this myself and get to the bottom of it.”

            “Yeah, you and our lawyers,” Eri seethed.

            Yukio shook his head and grabbed the doctor’s arm. “In the meantime, my mother and baby brother? When can we see them?”

            “Hospital policy is that no one outside of parents or grandparents may handle the infant without express permission from the parents or legal guardian. You may see him through the nursery observation window, but you will not be allowed to hold him.”

            “That is unacceptable,” Izayoi cut-in. “The infant is an inu-hanyou pup. It is critical he imprint onto his parents’ scent within the first few hours of birth.”

            Mama-baachan stepped up. “I am the newborn infant’s grandmother. You said grandparents were allowed to visit.” She looked at Izayoi. “Will I do?”

            “Your scent is similar to Okaa-san’s, but it would be better if you were to bring the pup to Okaa-san or out here to Otou-san.”

            “The infant is not allowed to be removed from the nursery,” the doctor informed.

            “Then you will have to do, Mama-baachan. Take something of Okaa-san and Otou-san’s in with you and tuck it into his bed with him,” Izayoi informed.

            “We have some of Okaa-san’s clothes in the overnight bag we packed,” Miroku said.

            Mama-baachan nodded.

            “And my mother?” Yukio asked again.

            “As for your mother, I have high hopes for a full recovery. We’ll know more within the next 24 hours,” Dr. Hattori replied.

            “When can we  ** _see_** her?” he repeated.

            “You should be able to go up for brief visits in about a half hour. No more than 2 at a time for a maximum of ten minutes. Once you have seen her, I suggest that you go home. There is nothing else for you to do here.”

            He growled and bared his teeth. “We aren’t going anywhere until we know what is happening with our mother and baby brother.”

            “I don’t think that is wise...” the doctor began, but then stopped as a wave of powerful youki came into their sensing range.

            Yukio would know the feel of that youki anywhere and something inside of him that was too tightly coiled finally relaxed.

_‘Uncle is here. Uncle will know what to do.’_

            The outer doors to the maternity ward waiting room burst open and the taiyoukai came striding in, face cold and unreadable as always, but the length of his stride and steady speed of his steps spoke volumes about how he was really feeling. He was resplendent in a black suit and long great coat, and he moved with determination and singular purpose.

            “Where is my brother? What has happened?” he demanded, but did not wait for an answer.

            His head came up, nose sniffing, eyes narrowing and casting about until they fell upon the motionless body of Inuyasha. In seconds he was by the inu-hanyou’s side, Tomo and Kitarou scrambling to get out of his way.

            “Uncle,” Yukio tried but the inu-youkai ignored him.

            Instead he reached to his side and put his hand on the hilt of one of the two swords that he never left home without. Yukio gasped as he pulled it from its sheath and held it above his brother. At first the blade looked like a standard, well-made katana, but then it shimmered and they all felt the surge of energy as it transformed into a luminescent blue glowing fang.

             _‘That’s... that’s Tenseiga...’_

            In all his years, he had never seen his Uncle wield the famed sword of healing.

            “What?  ** _What are you doing?!_** ” Dr. Hattori shrieked.

            “Silence,” Uncle commanded, then flicked his wrist so he was holding the sword with the hilt towards Inuyasha.

            The glow of the blade lit up Inuyasha’s face, and although he could not be certain, Yukio thought he saw his father move. Running footsteps distracted him and he turned his head to see his aunt hurrying towards them.

            “We got here as fast as we could,” she told him, gasping for breath. “What is going on?”

            “Okaa-san went into seizures in the delivery room. She’s in a coma.”

            “Oh Kami-sama! And the pup?”

            “A boy. He lived.”

            “Oh thank god.”

            Movement caught his eye and he returned his attention to his father and uncle. Now he was certain that he’d seen his father’s hand twitch, and he watched the clenched fist relax as Uncle lowered Tenseiga down to rest against Inuyasha’s chest. Uncle placed the hilt into Inuyasha’s now opened hand and all of them gasped when they saw his fingers close tightly around it.

            His aunt gave a sigh of relief. “It’s accepted him. Good.”

            He looked at her. “It accepted him before, back when he wielded it after it rejected Uncle.”

            His aunt nodded. “I know, but I was worried it wouldn’t this time. I should have known that your grandfather would continue to look after his son, especially at a time like this.”

            “What will Tenseiga do?” he asked.

            “The sword is a bridge between this world and the next. Hopefully Inuyasha will stand on the bridge and catch Kagome if she starts to go across.”

            Yukio got a crazy image of his father standing on a white bridge, illuminated by light all around him. Inuyasha was holding Tenseiga and looking determined, and he was reminded of Gandalf from the new  _Lord of the Rings_  films, in Moria with the Balrog. ‘You shall not pass!’ He saw his father doing the same, blocking his mother from crossing over and keeping her with him. The image was insane, and he suppressed a giggle, snorting as it ran up into his nose and made him sneeze.

             _‘I must be hysterical,’_  he thought to himself, unable to stop the torrent of images that now fed his overactive imagination.  _‘Hysterical? Have I ever been hysterical? I don’t know. I’ve never felt like this before.’_

            With Uncle now with them, and more than capable of leading the pack for a short time, the emotions that Yukio had been holding in check now threatened to overflow. The sneeze turned into a choke, and his aunt gave him a sympathetic smile and small pat on his shoulder.

            “Why don’t you go get something to eat?” she suggested.

             _‘Eat?’_  “I don’t think I can eat anything right now. I’d probably puke it up all over the floor.”

            She gave him another pat. “Maybe just get some fresh air then. You look a little pale.”

            “I shouldn’t leave,” he argued. “Something…”

            “Whatever is going to happen won’t happen in the next ten minutes. You can go take a break for a little bit and still not miss anything. Besides, if anything  ** _does_** happen, I promise I’ll send someone to get you.”

            “I…”

            “Aunt Rin is right, Yukio,” Eri said as she came to stand beside him. “It looks like we’re in for a long haul. You should go get some coffee and take a walk.”

            “Coffee… okay I’ll go get some coffee,” he finally agreed. “But I’ll be right back.”

            Both Eri and his aunt nodded and watched him as he left the waiting room. He knew where the vending machines and cafeteria were from the previous time he had been at the hospital with his mother and he headed for it. Since it was fast approaching 6:30 in the morning, the breakfast crew was in full swing, and the small dining hall was crowded with doctors and hospital staff. There were a fair amount of refugees like himself as well, all hollow-eyed and ruddy-faced as they clutched their coffees and picked listlessly at their food.

            There was one female who looked to be a neko-youkai like Eri sitting at a table and hugging a teddy bear while her companion tried to get her to eat. She raised her head lethargically, looked in his direction, and their eyes met. The grief in her green orbs shot right through him and he felt it as a physical blow that made him gasp and his empty stomach roil. Spinning on one heel he ran out of the room, fleeing blindly and not stopping until he had reached the end of the hall where a tiny room housed four vending machines that dispensed soda, coffee and snacks. He hit the back wall of the vending area, leaning against it for support as he heaved and vomited stomach acid onto the floor. Then he slumped with his back against the cold painted cinder-blocks and slid down to the tile, his legs curled up to his chest and his eyes staring blankly ahead.

            What had happened to have put that look on her face? Was it the sudden loss of a child? A parent? A mate? With Miaka, her death had been a steady and slow decline, and he had watched her die by inches before his very eyes. While agonizing and heart-breaking, when she finally did pass on her death had come as no surprise and the family was almost relieved that it was over. He’d had years to prepare himself for the inevitability of his mate’s demise, but this? This was completely unexpected. What was supposed to be a joyous event was turning into a nightmare, and he was totally unprepared.

            What would he have done if his parents hadn’t been there to help him through Miaka’s death? How would he have made it through the first few years after her funeral if he hadn’t been able to run home and cry in his mother’s arms? What would he do if he lost them now? Who would raise the newborn pup? Who would feed him and shelter him and protect him, then give him a sword made from his father’s fang on his sixteenth birthday? It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. It was a sick twist of fate that after everything his mother had been through to conceive and carry a pup, that she would suffer a life-threatening complication in the delivery room.

             _‘The gods are sadistic bastards if they let this happen to my mother. How can there be any justice in this world if Okaa-san and Otou-san die tonight?’_

            He felt helpless. More helpless than he had ever felt in his entire lifetime. Miaka had chosen to die. He truly believed that she would still be alive if she hadn’t refused the infusions of his blood. In that, her death had not been his fault. He could have forced the blood upon her. It would have been easy enough to drug her and inject his blood into her veins when she was incapable of stopping him, but he would never have violated her in such a way. Still, even up until the day she died, he had harbored the secret wish and hope that she would take the blood and stay with him.

            This situation was different. With Miaka, there had always been the possibility that she would accept his blood. Here there was literally nothing he could do but sit helplessly by and wait. As Mariko had said, the future was in his parents’ hands and they would decide whether they lived or died.

             _‘Please Okaa-san, fight for us. Otou-san, don’t let her go. Please. The new pup needs you. We need you. I need you. Please. Please. Please,’_  he prayed, hugging his knees.

            A few minutes later the stiletto heels of Eri’s Gucci boots came into his view and he looked up to see her standing over him. He sniffed, but did not move to get up and she wordlessly settled next to him, her shoulder touching his lightly.

            “I’m scared,” he admitted.

            “Me too.”

            She threaded the fingers of her left hand into the fingers of his right, gripping tightly, and rested her head against his shoulder. Yukio buried his face into his knees and cried. 

           

********

           

            It was dark and cold, and he knew he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, but he was blind in the blackness and his screams echoed back at him. There was something though… something missing and he instinctively searched for it, swimming though the cold darkness, grasping with hands he couldn’t see. He didn’t know how long he was there. There was no sense of time in the endless void in which he floated. He didn’t even truly know who he was, only that he existed and that he was Elsewhere from where he ought to be. Then a glow appeared before him, faintly blue and lightly pulsing, and he fixated on it. The soft light bathed him in warmth and he recognized the feeling; associating it with safety and protection. Reaching out, he touched the light and felt it become solid in his hand. With it came awareness and he remembered his name.

_‘Inuyasha.’_

            And the solid thing in his hand was his father’s fang.

_‘Tensiega.’_

            The light from the sword illuminated his immediate surroundings and he saw a red cord running from his chest into the darkness. He couldn’t see the end of the cord, but he knew it was important and that it was attached to something.

_‘Attached to someone.’_

            He touched the cord with his free hand and he felt the life in it, his own and… another’s: his other half, his life-bonded.

_‘Kagome.’_

            He could feel her in the cord but she was weak and it frightened him. He pulled lightly on their connection, knowing it would hold but not wanting to cause pain. His tug was immediately answered.

             _‘I… Inu…yasha?’_

 _‘Kagome,’_  he responded, glad to hear the echo of her mind, the soft brush of her thoughts against his.

_‘Inuyasha.’_

            Following the cord he moved along it, hoping to find her at the other end, but it kept going off into the blackness beyond Tenseiga’s light.

            ‘ _Kagome… Kagome where are you?’_

_‘I… I don’t know. It’s dark. I can’t see. Inuyasha I’m scared.’_

_‘I’m coming, koishii. Just stay where you are.’_

_‘It hurts. Something’s wrong I’m... I’m being pulled somewhere.’_

_‘It’s all right. Just hold on. I’ll find you.’_

_‘Hurry, Inuyasha. It’s cold.’_

            He moved faster, fairly flying now, speeding through the cold darkness in order to reach her. He knew when he was getting closer because the ‘feel’ of her grew stronger and Tenseiga’s light grew brighter, but with the heightened awareness of her also came the feeling of Wrong.

             _‘Kagome…’_

 _‘Inu…yasha,’_  she replied but it was slower, fainter.

             _‘Kagome stay with me. I’m almost there.’_

_‘I’ll try. Hurry.’_

_‘I’m coming.’_

            The feeling of Wrong increased and he sped up again, extending his senses to the limits of their reach. At first he thought he was just imagining things when he thought the darkness was getting lighter, but then he saw a white glow in the distance that grew brighter and brighter the closer he traveled to it until he came upon a giant white, slowly rotating funnel.

            Floating in the field of light created by the funnel, pale and almost completely translucent, was Kagome.

_‘Kagome!’_

            Tenseiga pulsed and flared, and he felt it pull him towards her, helping him reach her side before she drifted into the center of the white light. Thin tendrils of glowing threads had wrapped around her limbs and these he cut with his father’s fang, setting her free as he grabbed her and clutched her close in his arms.

             _‘Kagome.’_

_‘Inu…yasha.’_

_‘I’m here. I’ve got you.’_

_‘I’m glad.’_

            Tenseiga pulsed again, pushing them away from the inexorable pull of the white light that seemed to be drawing everything around it into its swirling maw. He growled and positioned the sword between them and the light, using it as a barrier against the gravitational forces that sought to drag them in. In the field of blue light created by Tenseiga, he could see the floating forms of countless other souls passing into the center of the funnel and winking out of sight. Instinctively he knew that if he and Kagome were to get sucked in, there would be no going back. Unfortunately, the tendrils kept reaching for Kagome, trying to reattach themselves to her. He swung Tenseiga, slicing through them even as he continued to put more distance between them and the light. Kagome was still pale and fading, however and that worried him.

             _‘Kagome. Stay with me,_ ’ he told her.

             _‘I’m trying, but I’m tired.’_

 _‘I know, koi. I know you’re tired, but I need you to keep trying. Don’t give up on me, please koi,’_  he begged, pulling her close and noticing that the red cord that tied them together was much shorter. It was brighter too, stronger, and he discovered that he could track the ebb and flow of her life force through it.

             _‘I… have no intention of giving up. However… could you… hold me… just a little bit longer?’_

 _‘Yes,’_  he answered without hesitation and took up the red cord in his hand.

_‘Okay.’_

_‘I could hold you forever, koishii,’_  he reaffirmed as he opened up, gripped Tenseiga and the red cord as tightly as he could, and poured all of his strength into her.

            He used his own life force to bolster hers, supporting and cradling her in his arms, as he held the glowing tendrils at bay and kept his beloved safe in his protective embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, I KNOW The Fellowship of the Ring didn’t come out until Dec 2001, but the image was too good to pass up. So please suspend your disbelief for the sake of a good story and imagine that a family as rich and powerful as IY’s could get an advance copy. Or something. So there.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter Forty-Three

 

            All was quiet in the waiting room when Yukio and Eri returned. While he was gone, Jii-chan and Souta had arrived as well as Ryoukan. Thankfully this time the wolf-hanyou had come alone. He didn’t know what he would have done if Kouga had come with him. He also noted that Mama-baachan was missing.

_‘Did she go in to see the pup?’_

            “Has there been any news?” he asked, hoping it was nothing. He’d only been gone for twenty minutes.

            “Nothing. Miroku filled us in on what is going on. We are currently trying to piece together what happened with the doctors,” Aunt Rin explained, nodding to where Uncle stood on the far side of the room, speaking into his cell phone.

            “I know Okaa-san has Dr. Maggiano’s number in her address book. I was going to send someone to get Tessaiga. I can have whoever it is pick that up too,” he offered.

            “Tessaiga is a good idea, but we already have Dr. Maggiano’s number. Sesshou got it from global directory assistance. He’s on the phone with the lawyers right now. They’re going to pull both Hattoris’ medical files and see if anything like this has ever happened before. We’re also petitioning the Medical Board to suspend Hattori Taro’s license to practice medicine pending further investigation. The hospital has already suspended him, and may suspend his father if it’s discovered that he had anything to do with this,” she told him.

            He shook his head. “I don’t think he knew anything about it. I smelled fear and embarrassment on him when he was talking to us.”

            Aunt Rin nodded. “The police have been called and they have Hattori Taro under arrest. As far as I know, they are interviewing and taking statements from the staff members who were in the delivery room. That’s where your grandmother is right now.”

            “You’ve been busy,” he commented with a nod.

            Aunt Rin shrugged. “You know your uncle. He threatens and postures, but when push comes to shove, no one endangers the Family.” She put a hand on his arm. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise.”

            “Just let me know who I have to shred,” Ryoukan said, coming over to them. He brandished his claws and growled.

             _‘Hates humans, but loves Okaa-san. I don’t think that baboon-youkai has a prayer.’_

            “I don’t think it’s come to that quite yet,” Aunt Rin replied. “Besides, Sesshou has already claimed him as his prey. You won’t be able to touch him.”

            Ryoukan scowled. “All I would have to do is tell the Pack and he wouldn’t live to see another sunrise. Kouga is waiting for me to call back once I have more details. They’d capture him and save the killing blow for us.”

            “I would relish the chance to cause him pain. I hated him the moment he came into Okaa-san’s hospital room,” Miroku added, joining them.

            They both looked at him expectantly as if waiting for him to say something. After a moment, he realized why.

_‘You’re the Alpha, idiot. They’re waiting for you to tell them what to do!’_

            He cleared his throat and tried to gather intelligent thoughts together.

            “It’s too soon to spill blood,” he said. “We don’t know what happened. There could be others involved. If we kill him, we’ll never know if this was a plot to kill Okaa-san and Otou-san or if he’s just incompetent. However if they die, he dies.”

            His brothers nodded gravely, accepting his decision.

            “He may die regardless,” Ryoukan amended, cracking his knuckles.

            “At the very least, he will lose his license to practice medicine,” Aunt Rin interrupted, halting their conversation.

            Uncle snapped his cell phone shut and strode over to them. “None shall touch him. He is my prey. This Sesshoumaru will deal with him,” he announced coldly, making them all shiver.

            He bowed and nodded. “As you wish Uncle.”

_‘Never, never, never, never get on Uncle’s bad side.’_

            Ryoukan scowled but eventually lowered his eyes under Uncle’s intense, cold gaze.

_‘Even **he**  knows when not to push it.’_

            “I should send someone to get Tessaiga,” he said.

            “I’ll get it!” Kitarou offered.

_‘I should have known...’_

            “Okay, Kitarou, go back to Tokyo House and get Tessaiga. Also bring some clothes for Otou-san and... and...” ‘ _Something that smells strongly of them...’_  “And bring a pillowcase from their bed. We’ll put it in with the new pup for the scent.”

            The tanuki-hanyou bobbed his head. “I’ll go now! I’ll be back right away!”

            In a flurry of brown and white he was gone.

            “I swear hotel management is perfect for him,” Eri commented, watching him go. “I was so glad when Otou-san bought that resort in Paris and put him in charge.”

            Yukio chuckled. “You were just happy to have a place to stay for free when you went for the fashion shows.”

            “That too.”

            Just then Mama-baachan came back into the waiting room escorted by a youkai member of the police force.

            “Thank you for your time and cooperation, Higurashi-san,” the officer said with a bow. “We will keep you informed as to the progress of the investigation.”

            Mama-baachan bowed back. “Thank you, Officer. If there is anything more I can do to help, please call me.”

            “We will. Thank you again.”

            “What have you discovered?” Uncle demanded, making the officer pale.

            “Nishitaishou-san,” the officer stammered, bowing deeply. “We have learned that the younger Hattori intercepted a phone call from Dr. Teresa Maggiano for Hattori the elder. He purposefully did not inform his father of the message and took Fushikenwa-san’s case for himself. He even took the medical records sent from Dr. Maggiano for Hattori senior.”

            “Do we know why he did this?” Aunt Rin questioned.

            “It appears he wanted the prestige of delivering the Fushikenwa infant. However, he has no experience with human births. Since his graduation from medical school four years ago, his practice has been restricted to youkai patients.”

            “ ** _Four years!_** ” Miroku sputtered. “That bastard told us he’d been delivering babies for over a  ** _hundred_**! Fucking son-of-a-bitch  ** _lied_**  to us!”

            Yukio had to smile in spite of the news because Miroku sounded just like their father.

            “So to the best of your knowledge, Hattori junior was acting on his own?” he asked.

            “Yes, Fushikenwa-san. That is how it appears at this time,” the officer replied, bowing to him.

            He heard the cracking of knuckles nearby and saw Ryoukan wiggling his claws.

_‘That boy is itching for blood.’_

            “Keep us informed. You may go now,” Uncle said, dismissing the officer.

          “Yes, Nishitaishou-san. Of course.”

            With a final bow, the officer left. At the same time, a young nurse came through the ward doors.

            “Fushikenwa?”

            They all turned to face her and she visibly paled.

            “We are the family,” Yukio answered.

            “The infant is ready for visitation from immediate relatives,” she stammered.

            Mama-baachan stepped up. “I am the baby’s grandmother.”

            “You can go in. Where are the parents?”

            “My mother is comatose in Intensive Care. My father has been sedated and lies there,” he replied, motioning to the still figure on the couch who was still clutching Tenseiga like a lifeline.

            The nurse looked over at Inuyasha and blushed. “I’m... I’m sorry. Only parents and grandparents may go into the nursery at this time. The rest of you may view the child from the observation window.”

            “I’d like to go in,” Mama-baachan said.

            The nurse nodded. “If you will follow me please.”

            “Mama-baachan,” Izayoi interrupted, handing her one of Kagome’s shirts. “Here, put this in with the pup. It has Okaa-san’s scent.”

            Mama-baachan accepted the clothing with a small smile. “Thank you.”

            “Anyone who wants to see the infant through the window can come as well. I’ll bring him into the observation room and set her up in a rocker so all of you can see him.”

            Several faces looked at him. “All of you go. I will stay and watch Otou-san and go once you get back,” he said.  _‘It’s the right thing for a leader to do. Although I have no doubt that Otou-san would be muscling his way in first.’_

            There was a mass exodus behind the nurse and the poor thing looked traumatized. The only ones left in the waiting room were himself, Uncle, Aunt Rin, Ryoukan, Souta, and his father.

            “Yukio?” Souta said softly.

            He went over to his young uncle and knelt by him. “Yes?”

            “Is Nee-chan gonna die?” the boy asked, looking up at him with tears in his eyes.

            He dropped his ears and gulped. “I don’t know.”

            Souta sniffled. “But I don’t want Nee-chan to die!”

            “I don’t either.”

            “This is horrible. How could this happen?”

            “That’s what we’re trying to find out. There was a mistake and the wrong doctor was treating her.”

            The boy started to cry. “I want Nee-chan to be okay!”

            Yukio reached out and hugged him tight. “Me too, Ojisan.”

            He held Souta while he cried, trying hard not to cry himself, until the boy pulled away and wiped his face roughly.

            “I wanna see Nee-chan.”

            “I think they’ll let us in to see her soon. The doctor said we could go up to see her for ten minutes at a time.”

            “Have you been to see her yet?”

            “Not yet.”

            “If you want, I’ll take him up,” Aunt Rin offered.

            “Thank you,” he said gratefully.

            Souta hopped off the chair and Aunt Rin took his hand. “Do you know where Nee-chan is?” he asked.

            “Yes, I know the way to the ICU. Come with me and I’ll take you to her.”

            Once they were gone, Yukio made his way over to his father’s side and sat beside him. Inuyasha looked uncomfortable, his brow furrowed and his body tense. At some point he had either closed his eyes himself or someone had shut them for him, because they were now squeezed shut. Blood had dried on his clothes and hair, leaving dark red stains. He reached over and gently brushed the hair from his father’s brow. The skin was cold and clammy.

_‘Please don’t leave me.’_

            Ryoukan came to stand next to him.

            “Why didn’t you go to see the pup?” he asked.

            The wolf-hanyou shrugged. “I’ll see him later. I’ll let the crowd thin a bit before I go in.”

            Yukio nodded and looked across the room to where Uncle stood. He was on his cell phone again, barking orders, ruling his empire from wherever he happened to be at the time.

_‘He’ll have that doctor’s head on a platter by nightfall.’_

            Izayoi and Tetsu were the first to come back. Both had moist eyes and Tetsu was leaning heavily on his sister.

            “He’s beautiful,” Izayoi said, wiping her eyes.

            Tetsu nodded, sniffling. Then he reached down and touched Inuyasha’s forehead while his other hand tightly clutched Jyu-shi-Kenshuga.

            “Papa. Can you hear me Papa? You have a baby boy, Papa. You both need to come back soon because he needs you. He’s so small and helpless. He needs his mama and papa.”

            “I need to get him out of here. Can we go back to Tokyo House?” Izayoi asked.

            “Of course. Do you need a car?” he replied.

            “Do you have one?”

            “Miroku’s BMW is in the garage.”

            “That would be perfect. He needs to rest. We’ll come back once he’s slept some. You’ll call if anything happens?”

            “Absolutely.”

            He fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.

            “Tetsu. C’mon. Let’s go back to the house. There’s nothing we can do here and all of these people are making your Sight go crazy,” she said softly to the dragon-hanyou, taking him by the arm.

            “But Mama...”

            “There’s nothing we can do for Mama and Papa right now. Mama is in the hands of the doctors. The right ones this time.”

            “But...”

            “You need to rest, Tetsu. You know how you get when you’re overtired. I promise that we’ll come back after you’ve slept for a few hours and eaten something,” she pressed.

            He saw his brother consider arguing more but then give in. “Okay.”

            “I promise I’ll call the moment anything happens,” Yukio vowed.

            “And I’ll keep the phone by my head so I’ll be sure to hear it if it rings.”

            “Okay,” Tetsu agreed.

            “I predict that we’ll be back early this evening,” Izayoi told him.

            He nodded and waved as she escorted Tetsu out of the room.

            “I will go as soon as I have seen the new pup. Kouga and Ayame will skin me alive if I cannot tell them what the newborn looks like,” Ryoukan announced.

            He laughed softly and nodded. “Can’t have that.”

            “You will call me if anything changes here.”

            “I will. I promise.”

            Ryoukan nodded once then turned to walk through the ward doors, leaving him alone with Uncle and his father until Rumiko, Tomo, Shippou’s mate Mitsiyomi, Mariko and Eri came back from seeing the pup. There wasn’t a dry eye among them.

            “He’s got Otou-san’s eyes,” Rumiko sniffled.

            “And his hair,” Tomo added.

            “But he’s got Okaa-san’s nose,” Mariko said.

            “Miroku’s still there. Ryoukan looked at the pup then left,” Eri told him. “Jii-chan and Mama-baachan were allowed in. He looks just like Mom except he has Dad’s hair and eyes.”

            “And his ears?” he asked, wiggling his own.

            Eri smiled. “Almost human. They’re on the sides of his head but they’re pointed and might have a tuft or two of fur.”

            “You should go see him. They won’t let Mama-baachan and Jii-chan sit with him for much longer,” Tomo said.

            “We’ll watch Dad,” Eri promised.

            He nodded and stood up.

            “Where’s Aunt Rin?” Eri asked.

            “She took Souta up to see Okaa-san in ICU.”

            Eri’s face darkened. “I should go up to see her too.”

            “Wait for me and we’ll go up together.”

            “Okay.”

            “I’ll be back soon.”

            “Take your time. I’m in no big rush to see her like that,” Eri admitted, casting a glance at their father. “It’s hard enough to look at him.”

            He nodded, knowing what she meant, then gave her a small smile before heading towards the ward doors. Once through, he asked the duty nurse where the observation window was and she directed him down a hallway to a room full of warmed bassinets. Both Jii-chan and Mama-baachan were sitting near the window, and his grandmother was holding a blue-wrapped bundle. Miroku was there in the hall, tapping lightly on the glass as the pup looked at him. He came to stand right next to his brother and got a good look at his youngest sibling.

_‘Oh god. Eri was right. He looks just like Okaa-san.’_

The pup was tiny, much smaller than Yukio had expected him to be, but everything about him was just about perfect. He had short shockingly white hair atop a round, pudgy face and two golden eyes that looked just like his father’s. The eyes were huge for such a small face but he knew all pups looked like that in the beginning. He did have Kagome’s nose, but he had Inuyasha’s chin and of course the two little pointed ears.

            “Isn’t he beautiful?” Miroku whispered. “I know he’s just a newborn, but I think he can see us.”

            Yukio put one hand on the glass and Mama-baachan held the pup up close to the window. He was pleased to see that she had done as Izayoi instructed and tucked Okaa-san’s shirt in close to the pup’s skin for the scent. The pup turned his head and looked at him. Yukio bit his lip and gave the pup a strained smile.

_‘He can see. He wasn’t born blind.’_

            “Hi,” he whispered, then barked a greeting in inu-youkai. :Pup. Welcome pup.:

            The pup’s mouth opened but he couldn’t hear if he made any answering noise. He tapped on the glass and the pup lifted one tiny hand. Five perfect little fingers grasped at nothing as the pup reached toward the glass. The tears began to roll unbidden down his face as he looked at all he might have left of his beloved parents, and his knees went out from underneath him as he slumped to the floor, his head still above the edge of the window so he remained able the pup through the glass. He blinked away the tears because they made his vision blurry and he couldn’t see the precious bundle clearly anymore. Miroku knelt next to him and put an arm around him, and they both started to cry. A pair of turquoise scrub-clad legs interrupted their weeping, and they looked up to see a red-haired youkai woman looking down at them.

            “Are you family of Fushikenwa?” she asked gently.

            Yukio nodded, wiping his face. “We’re her sons.”

            “I’m Botan. I was the midwife in the delivery room.”

            “You were the one who called for the surgical team and the new doctor,” Miroku said, as both he and Yukio stood up.

            “Yes. I only wish that I’d been able to get a team in there sooner. The whole situation could have been avoided if she had been sedated before she went into full eclampsia,” she replied with regret.

            “You did what you could. In the end, you probably saved my mother’s life. And the pup’s,” Yukio told her.

            “Your father told me this was her first birth.”

            “It was. We’re adopted,” he replied.

            “Ah.” She looked at the pup then to the nurse who stood on the other side of the room. Something seemed to pass between the two before she turned to look at them again. “Do you want to see him?” she asked suddenly.

            He blinked. “We... we were told that only parents and grandparents were allowed in,” Yukio answered.

            “I know the nurse on duty. I can probably sneak you in for a minute or two.”

            “Could you?” Miroku questioned hopefully.

            She nodded. “Yes. Come with me.”

            They eagerly followed as she led them around the corner to the nursery room door. She knocked lightly and the nurse who had been in the room with Mama-baachan opened it.

            “Come in quickly,” she whispered, motioning them into the first room of the nursery. More pups were in here but there was no observation window. “Don’t leave this room.”

            She zipped out and a moment later Mama-baachan came in carrying the pup in her arms.

            “No one will see you in here and you have about ten minutes before the floor supervisor comes in,” the nurse told them.

            “Thank you,” he replied, holding back tears.

            Miroku took a small step forward and looked down at the pup.

            “He’s so tiny.”

            “Do you want to hold him?” Mama-baachan asked.

            Miroku wrung his hands. “Could I? Can I? Is it... is it okay?”

            His grandmother offered him up and placed him very gently in Miroku’s arms. His brother immediately brought the pup close to his body to cradle him safely. The pup turned his big golden eyes on Miroku and Yukio saw new tears form in Miroku’s eyes.

            “Aniki... Aniki he’s so little. Was I ever this little?”

            “Yes, you were. You fit in both of my hands put together.”

            The pup moved and looked towards him as he came close and offered a finger. The pup reached up and grasped his finger tightly.

            “Hi. We’re your brothers,” Yukio told the pup. “And we love you very much. We’re so happy that you’re with us.”

            “He’s just been fed,” Mama-baachan told them.

            “Fed? From a bottle?” he asked.

            His grandmother nodded. “I know it’s not optimal but Kagome is in no condition to feed him right now.”

            He indicated that he understood even though he wasn’t happy about it.

            “What about her milk now? If the pup doesn’t nurse, won’t her milk dry up?”

            “If it looks like she will be in a coma for an extended period of time, there are some options we can explore,” Botan answered. “But for now, I suggest you wait the prerequisite 24 hours before you start making decisions.”

            “Botan, do women who suffer this condition like my mother come out okay?” Miroku questioned.

            The midwife nodded. “Yes. They do tend to make full recoveries, although their bodies are never the same and any subsequent pregnancies are even higher risk. If your mother were to get pregnant again, it is highly likely that she would undergo a Cesarean in order to reduce the risk of this happening again.”

            “So you think our mother will be alright,” Yukio prompted.

            “We’ll know more within the next few hours, but I think there’s a good chance. Your mother is definitely a fighter so I predict that she will wake up soon.”

            He gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

            “Aniki, do you want to hold him? We shouldn’t stay much longer. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” Miroku interrupted.

            He turned and opened his arms. “Yes, please.”

            Miroku gave the pup to him and he cradled the tiny bundle close, one hand securely under the pup’s head. Bringing his baby brother up to his face, he inhaled deeply to imprint the scent on his memory. He was an odd melding of both his mother’s and father’s scents. He snickered when the pup sniffed him too and made a little burble noise.

            :Pup. Welcome, pup,: he barked back softly, knowing the pup would instinctively understand him, even if he could not speak.

            The pup looked at him with his big golden eyes then cracked a huge toothless smile. Yukio felt warm all over at the sight of the pup’s grin, and he could not help but smile back. He nuzzled the pup lovingly with his nose and giggled when the newborn grasped at his hair.

            “You are going to be so spoiled and fussed over that you’re not going to know what to do with yourself, but that’s okay because Otou-san and Okaa-san are the best parents any pup could have, and you are so lucky to have been born into this family. I promise you that no matter what happens, I will be here for you, and I will take care of you if Okaa-san and Otou-san cannot. I give you my word and I always keep my word,” he vowed, then kissed the pup gently on his forehead.

            With a final cuddle and nuzzle, he gave the pup back to his grandmother. “Here, we should get back to the waiting room before there’s any trouble.”

            Mama-baachan accepted the pup back into her arms and gave him a little nod.

            “I sent Kitarou back to Tokyo House to get Tessaiga because Otou-san left it when he ran out of the house this morning, and also to get a pillowcase from their bed. Once he is back, I will have the pillowcase sent in so that you can wrap the pup in their scents.”

            Mama-baachan nodded. “I’ll stay here until we have it. It is very important that he get used to Kagome and Inuyasha’s scents.”

            He nodded in agreement, glad that his grandmother had such a strong grasp of what it meant to be inu-youkai and how important scent was to them.

            Both he and Miroku turned to the midwife and the nurse in the room and bowed to them.

            “Thank you,” he said with genuine gratitude.

            “Thank you very much,” Miroku said as well.

            Botan smiled then her face grew serious. She reached into the pup’s blanket and ripped off a small piece of it, handing it to him.

            “Now you can bring the scent of the newborn to his parents. I know your mother is human but your father is not. He at least should recognize the pup-scent. Maybe it will help trigger a recovery,” she told him.

            His eyes grew wide as he realized what the midwife had done. Here they were worried about the pup getting his parents’ scents but they’d never thought about it working the other way. He held the small bit of blue cloth in his palm. It smelled strongly of the new pup.

_‘What an ingenious idea.’_

            “Thank you, Botan-san. That is an excellent idea,” he complimented.

            She nodded then motioned to the door. “Now go before the supervisor sees you and gives us all an ear-full.”

            Giving her twin conspiratorial smiles, they slipped out of the nursery and headed back to the waiting room. Miroku couldn’t stop talking about holding the pup the entire way back.

            “He was so little and he looked at me! Aniki, he has Otou-san’s eyes...”

            He put a hand on his brother’s arm to still him. “Let’s not advertise that the nurse broke the rules for us, okay? I don’t want anyone to get jealous.”

            Miroku raised an eyebrow at him and pointed out the obvious. “They’re going to smell him on us.”

            “I know, I know, but I don’t want us to go in there bragging about how we got to hold him. Eri is going to have a fit as it is.”

            Miroku flattened his ears and paled. “I forgot about her...”

            He nodded. “Yeah. So let’s not make it out to be such a big deal, okay?”

            “Right. And if she starts to hiss, I’ll hide behind you.”

            “Coward.”

            “Against her? You bet. That’s why you’re Alpha and I’m Beta. That means  ** _you_**  get to deal with her.”

            He rolled his eyes and chuckled as they returned to the waiting room. Aunt Rin and Souta had returned from seeing Okaa-san up in ICU, and his aunt was sitting close to the visibly distressed teen. Mariko, Mitsiyomi and Eri were there as well as Uncle, but there was no sign of Rumiko or Tomo.

            “They went up to see Okaa-san,” Mariko told him, answering his unspoken question. “They’re only letting visitors in for ten minutes every half hour.”

            Before he could reply, he heard Uncle sniff then the taiyoukai was in his face, nostrils flaring. He shivered inwardly under the intense gaze but stood his ground. Finally, Uncle stepped back, his eyes narrowed in thought.

            “Hmph,” was all he said as he stalked away again and made another call on his cell phone.

             _‘Whew,’_  he thought, letting out the breath he was holding.

            “What was that all about?” Aunt Rin asked curiously.

            “Ummm...” he stammered.

            “The nurse gave us a bit of cloth from the pup’s blanket so we could bring it to Otou-san,” Miroku explained.

            “Ah.”

            Yukio smiled to himself. Miroku was excellent at dancing around the truth from so many years of dealing with often inept administrations.

_‘Well, he didn’t lie. He just didn’t tell the whole truth.’_

            “What an excellent idea,” Mariko commented.

            Yukio nodded and approached the still form of his father. Both Eri and Mitsiyomi sniffed as he walked by and Eri’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. He gulped but she didn’t say anything so he kept walking until he had reached Inuyasha’s side.

            Kneeling down, he ran one hand over his father’s cheek and nuzzled him gently.

            “Otou-san, I brought you something from the new pup. I have it here with me.”

            He took the scrap of cloth and tucked it into the collar of his father’s shirt. They had long since ripped off the paper scrubs that had been stained with his blood and thrown them away. There was no reaction from older hanyou except for a slight furrowing of his brow and movement under the tightly closed eyes.

_‘He’s still partially aware...’_

            “That’s your newborn son, Otou-san. If you’re where Okaa-san is, please tell her you need to come back. We’ve seen him and he’s beautiful.”

            His father’s answer was a faint sigh.

_‘Please come back to us.’_

            Eri’s boots appeared in his line of sight and he looked up to see her standing there with her hands on her hips.

            “Is there something you’re not telling us?” she asked coldly.

            He flattened his ears and bit his lip. She hissed softly, baring one fang.

            “Don’t lie to me, Yukio.”

            “I’m not! We didn’t,” he insisted.

            “Then why do  ** _you_**  smell of the new pup and not just that piece of cloth? And why does  ** _Miroku_** smell of him too?”

            “Hmm, I noticed that,” Mitsiyomi commented.

            He sighed.  _‘I should have known better...’_

            “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to get all pissy and bent out of shape.”

            She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll be the judge of whether or not my being pissy is justified.”

            “We were looking at the pup through the observation window when the midwife who was in with Okaa-san came up to us. She said she knew the nurse on duty in the nursery and she snuck us in to see the pup for a few minutes.”

            Eri gasped. “She let you in? You got to see him?”

            He gave her a sheepish look. “And hold him too.”

            “You  ** _held him?!!_** ”

            She stamped her foot and he knew she was two seconds away from a full-blown sulk.

            “It wasn’t like we planned it. We were both there and then she showed up and she asked us if we were family of Fushikenwa and we said yes, and the next thing I knew we were getting snuck in the side door,” he blurted, hoping to cut her off.

            She pouted and huffed, but he could see her calming down from her tirade.

            “In any case it isn’t like you won’t have plenty of opportunities to snuggle him once he comes home.”

            “But still, it’s the principle of the thing. You got to break the rules and I missed it.”

            He chuckled and stood up, offering her a hug. “It’s okay,” he comforted.

            “It’s not,” she complained. “He may be all we have left of Mom and Dad and a stupid dog got to hold him while I didn’t.”

            He chuckled again and held her close, letting her hold him because he knew she wasn’t so much upset about his holding the pup as she was at the whole situation.

            “You’re going to go up with me to see Okaa-san, right?” he asked her when she pulled back.

            She nodded. “But it’ll be a while before we can see her. Souta and Aunt Rin just came back, and Tomo and Rumiko went up. They’re only letting two visitors in at a time for only ten minutes.”

            “Every half hour. So the earliest we could see her is 40 minutes from now,” he added. “And I’m sure Miroku and Mariko will want to see her too.”

            “Yeah,” Eri agreed.

            “Why don’t we let them go first and we’ll see her last.”

            “Okay.”

            Just then Kitarou returned with Tessaiga, some of his father’s clothes and the pillowcase.

            “Here, here,” the tanuki-hanyou said, dropping the bag of clothes and handing him the famed sword in its sheath.

            “Thank you, Kitarou. Please take the pillowcase to Mama-baachan. She’s in the nursery with the new pup,” he said, accepting the sword.

            “They’re letting us in to see him?!”

            “Just through the observation window,” he clarified.

            Kitarou wilted a bit, his raccoon ears drooping. “Oh.”

            Mariko came up to them and smiled down at the smaller hanyou; he was only about 1.5 meters high. Tanuki didn’t get very tall and his human mother had been small as well.

            “I’ll go with you. I’d like to see him again,” she said.

            “Oh, okay,” Kitarou agreed and went with her through the ward doors.

            Yukio took Tessaiga and leaned down to place the sword across his father’s chest. Tenseiga flared for a moment then recognized its brother-blade and settled down. Inuyasha didn’t move to grasp Tessaiga’s hilt, but somehow he knew his father knew it was there.

_‘Anything we can do to help you, Otou-san...’_

            He took a seat next to the motionless body of his father and Eri sat next to him. All they could do now was wait to see what happened.

 

            Two hours after he left, Shippou returned with Midorikyou in tow. Yukio could not even hazard a guess as to how the kitsune had traveled the distance from Tokyo to Zenko-ji and back in such a short time, but he figured the fox had used some of his magic. Later he would learn that Uncle had called Shippou on his cell phone and ordered him to re-route to a heli-port where Midorikyou was already waiting for him in a company helicopter. Apparently one of the reasons they hadn’t been able to get in touch with the taiyoukai was because he was already two steps ahead of them, the way he usually was.

            Exactly how the revered immortal miko arrived so quickly was of no concern to him however, only that she was there and that she could hopefully do something to help. He knew from experience that Midorikyou had great knowledge and power. Being the fusion of two very powerful mikos in one body, she possessed the memories and abilities from both Midoriko and Kikyou equally, and she was willing to share her knowledge with those who sought it honestly. His sister Mariko had studied under the great miko for a number of years, and he himself had met her numerous times. His father always became slightly unstable around her because she bore the face of his first love, but she had always been kind and pleasant to him. Talking to her was always an interesting experience, provided one could get past the fact that she continually referred to herself in the plural.

            When they were children, Eri had delighted in trying to make him laugh in Midorikyou’s presence by whispering remarks into his ear. She would ask innocent questions like: “If she talks and then answers herself, what does that mean?” and “I wonder if when she gets bored does she play Go? Would she need a second player? If one wins, does the other get jealous?” Often he would have to clench his fists and bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing inappropriately. Eri, on the other hand, always saw her as a source of curiosity and amusement.

            Today, however, his sister bowed as deeply as the rest of them did when the miko entered the waiting room. At this point, they were down to a scant eight left in the waiting room with Rumiko, Tomo and Kitarou all leaving after having seen their mother in the ICU. He didn’t blame them for needing to get away. He hadn’t been up to see her yet, and he was already wishing he could be anywhere else but in the hospital. Still, he was committed to waiting it out and he would not leave his father’s side. Jii-chan and Souta were gone as well. The stress was too much for the teen, and his grandfather felt he could better serve them by making prayers and offerings in the shrine.

            “We are here,” Midorikyou said.

            “Miko-sama...” Yukio began.

            “The fool lies there,” Uncle interrupted, pointing to the still figure of Inuyasha on the couch.

            Midorikyou looked at Inuyasha, then back to Uncle. “And our reincarnation?”

            “Okaa-san is in Intensive Care. She is in a coma,” Yukio replied.

            The miko went over to the motionless body of his father and put a hand over his heart without actually touching him.

            “What happened here?”

            “Okaa-san’s blood pressure went too high and she...”

            “Eclampsia,” the miko finished. “Why wasn’t it diagnosed prior to the birth?”

            Eri crossed her arms and growled. “That’s what  ** _we’d_**  like to know.”

            Midorikyou turned to Inuyasha again. “Hmmm, it matters not now does it? There will be time for explanations later no doubt.”

            Mariko approached her and bowed. “Sensei, I have looked and seen that their souls are still anchored to themselves and to each other.”

            The miko nodded. “This we see as well.”

            Yukio stepped forward, his heart in his throat. “Miko-sama... if it is necessary, is it possible to... to separate them?”

            Midorikyou raised an eyebrow at him, her face calm and stony as always.

            “You would have us try to cut the cord that ties them together.”

            He put his hands up in surrender. “Only... only if there was no hope. Only if it was sure that both would die.”

            She gave him a soft, tender look. “There is always hope. But we will look and see what is to be seen, and do what is to be done.”

            He bowed deeply. “Thank you, Miko-sama.”

            The miko nodded and placed her hand upon Inuyasha’s chest.

            Tessaiga did not react to her touch but Tenseiga responded by flaring and letting out a burst of protective energy that whipped around Midorikyou and made her hair fly up. They watched as the miko instantly put up a barrier to deflect the blast and a moment later the sword settled down. Midorikyou closed her eyes and her face went slack as she slipped into a trance.

            They waited. Yukio noticed that he was holding his breath when his brain suddenly started screaming for air, and he had punctured his palms with his claws when he clenched his fists. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as they watched the miko working, and no one spoke until she drew a deep breath and her eyes snapped open. Yukio gasped and swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched Midorikyou take a step back, one hand on her head as she shook off the disorientation.

            “He has found her,” she told them.

            Yukio took a step forward. “Found her?” he repeated.

            “Yes. He holds her now. He has used his own life to support hers. To separate them now would mean certain death for both, so tightly has he wound their souls together.”

            Midorikyou looked weary and Mariko immediately brought her a chair to sit in, which she did with a grateful sigh.

            “Your sword, taiyoukai, is a magnificent thing,” she said to Uncle. “It made it possible for him to find her in the gap between the worlds, and even now it creates a barrier that prevents them from being sucked to the Other Side. And it had power enough to attack us when it thought we were an enemy. You did right in giving it to him. You saved their lives.”

            “Hmmph. Tenseiga chooses its own path,” Uncle replied stoically.

            “Your father’s love lives in both blades. We knew him when we were alive. He was a proud and fearsome creature, but his heart was good. Never did he attack the weak or feed upon death and destruction. His sons have inherited this heart and for that we are glad,” she admitted.

            Uncle snorted and turned away. “My father was a fool. I strive not to repeat his mistakes.”

            “Hmph,” Aunt Rin breathed softly and Yukio looked at her in askance. “Don’t worry. I’ll make him pay for that later,” she whispered to him.

            He blinked and thought he saw Uncle flick his eyes to his aunt and flinch just a tiny bit. He shivered. He knew his mother’s wrath was terrible. He had no doubt that Aunt Rin would make Uncle cower, although never where watching eyes could see.

            “So you are telling us that Dad has found Mom and is now holding her,” Eri asked, voicing the question they were all thinking but were afraid to ask.

            Midorikyou nodded. “He holds her close and tightly. He will not let her fail. He has given her the time she needs to heal herself.”

            “So... they’re going to live,” he pressed. He had heard it before from the doctor and the midwife, but he trusted the miko’s judgment over any of the medical professionals in the building. Midorikyou knew his parents well, and she knew what the Shikon no Tama had done to them. If she said his parents were going to live, then they would live.

            “Barring any unforeseen catastrophes, yes, they will live.”

            The relief that flooded through him made his legs go weak, and he slumped to the floor as tears threatened to fall from his misty eyes.

            “Thank you,” he choked.

            “Do not thank us. We did nothing.”

            “When can we expect Okaa-san to wake from the coma?” Miroku asked.

            “With eclampsia the body often suffers a terrible imbalance of electrolytes. Once our reincarnation’s system is balanced, her return to consciousness hinges solely upon her ability to recuperate and recover on her own,” the miko replied.

            “And I am sure that Otou-san is helping her as much as he can,” Yukio added. He had the utmost confidence in his father’s ability to keep his mother alive. He’d been doing it for over 450 years.

            Midorikyou looked at him and nodded.

            “So it’s just a waiting game then,” Eri commented.

            “Yes. At this point, there is nothing else to be done,” the miko confirmed.

            “Several of us have been to see Okaa-san up in ICU. I have heard that some comatose patients can hear. We’ve been talking to her and telling her about the new pup. Do you think we should keep doing that? Would it help her come back to us?” Miroku asked.

            “Anything that will help her return to herself would be worthwhile.”

            Miroku looked at his watch. “It’s been forty minutes. They’ll let two of us in to see her now. Aniki, do you want to go? You haven’t been yet.”

            He looked at Shippou. “Shippou, did you want to see her?”

            The kitsune nodded. “Yes. I’d like to see her.”

            “Why don’t you and Miroku go up then? Eri and I have resolved to go last so we don’t mind if the two of you go up before us,” he said.

            Shippou nodded again and he and Miroku left to go visit Kagome in ICU. Yukio went over to where Midorikyou was standing and bowed to her.

            “Thank you for coming, Miko-sama. Your reassurances have brought me great comfort.”

            She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a soft smile. “We are glad to have eased your pain.”

            “I... we were very worried and frightened that we would lose both of our parents today. These last few hours have been very stressful.”

            “We have no doubt. What happened to the infant? We are guessing that it lived.”

            “Yes. It’s a boy. We’ve been to see him several times and Mama-baachan has held him and fed him. Would you like to see him. They’ll put him into the observation room for us if we ask,” he offered.

            “We would like that.”

            “I’ll take her, Yukio, if you don’t want to leave Otou-san,” Mariko said.

            He looked at his sister. “Thank you, Mariko. Why don’t you do that.”

            “Sensei, please come with me. I will take you to see the new pup,” Mariko requested and the two mikos headed out of the room.

            With Miroku, Shippou, Mariko and Midorikyou gone, the waiting room seemed almost empty with just him, Eri, Uncle, Aunt Rin, Mitsiyomi and Mama-baachan left behind. Yukio took his place beside his father again, brushing another stray tendril of hair away from the furrowed brow and noting that the once cold and clammy skin was now warmer.

             _‘Otou-san, please help Okaa-san get better. I don’t think any of us will rest until we know that you’re going to be all right.’_


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-Four

 

            It was still dark and relatively cold where they were, but Inuyasha was secure in his belief that Kagome was safe in the circle of his arms. She was silent and still, unresponsive and limp in his embrace as she worked on healing what was wrong with her physical body. He could feel her life energy through the cord that joined them, and knew she was deep within herself.

            They were drifting now, floating like jellyfish in the inky blackness of an endless sea that had no light source other than the slowly swirling vortex in the distance and the blue glow of Tenseiga. The sword continued to create an eddy of safety against the pull of the vortex so that he could concentrate on supporting his mate, and he devoted all of his energy toward helping her heal, but it was taking a great deal out of him and he was growing weary. His power was slowly waning and he had begun to weaken.

            Valiantly he was trying to hold on and give her the time she needed, even as he felt his own life energy fading and slipping from him like grains of sand through his fingers. He would give her every last drop of his strength if he had to if it meant that she would survive, and he knew that he was the only thing standing in the way of her Crossing Over. The knowledge was more than enough to make him reach deeper into himself and find untapped reserves of power he never knew were there.

            He didn’t know how much time had passed when he suddenly had the distinct impression that they were no longer alone, and he opened his eyes to see what it was. He could still see the vortex, although it was even further away now, and the blackness still stretched in all directions. But around them had clustered a number of brightly glowing spheres, six of them in all: round balls of light that floated close by.

             _‘Souls...’_  he thought, recognizing them from the time when Kikyou had needed their energy to survive.

            Were they using the protection of Tenseiga as a bulwark against the pull of the vortex?

             _‘No. They’ve lost their form. These are the souls of the truly dead,’_  he answered himself although he did not know exactly how he knew that.

            As he tried to puzzle it out, one of the spheres approached him and touched him lightly on the shoulder. Immediately he felt a shock of cold and shivered, but then an image coalesced in his mind of a brightly smiling green-eyed kitsune-hanyou with a bushy red tail.

_‘Akihiro?’_

             _‘Hello, Father,’_  came the answering voice.

             _‘Aki?’_  he choked, disbelieving.

             _‘Yes.’_

_‘How?’_

_‘We’ve been allowed to cross over to Between.’_

             _‘We?’_

            He looked at the other glowing souls around them and suddenly knew that each one represented someone who had been connected to him in some way.

             _‘Yes.’_

A feeling of dread ran through him and he held Kagome more tightly.

             _‘Have you come to take us Across? Are we supposed to die?’_

_‘No. It’s not your time.’_

            He ‘sighed’ with relief.  _‘Oh good. I didn’t think it was.’_

            Akihiro’s laughter, so long unheard, echoed in his mind.  _‘And you would have taken exception to me if I had said that it was, wouldn’t you, Father?’_

            ‘ _I may have.’_

_‘Would you have fought me? Told me what you thought of me?’_

_‘Maybe,’_  he replied carefully, eyeing the remaining five souls warily as they floated around them. One tried to touch Kagome but he pulled her away.

            More laughter rolled lightly through his mind.  _‘You would have. I know you would. But there is no need for that. We aren’t here to take you with us.’_

_‘Then why are you here?’_

            ‘ _We came to talk to you.’_

_‘Talk to me?’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Why?’_

There was a moment of silence then the soul who had once been Akihiro replied,  _‘Because none of us got to say good-bye.’_

             _‘Good-bye?’_

_‘Yes.’_

            Emotions he had long suppressed rose up in him and he felt the crushing grief of that horrible day so long ago when his son took a fatal blow that was meant for Kagome.

             _‘I’m sorry,’_  he blurted.  _‘I wasn’t fast enough. I couldn’t save you. I failed you, my son.’_

             _‘No, you didn’t. I knew I would die. I had made my choice. Better me than Mother or the littles. My only regret was that I died before I had a chance to tell you that I love you. I love you, Father. Thank you for everything you did for me.’_

Tears began to roll down his cheeks. It was okay to cry here, wasn’t it? There wasn’t anyone alive to see.

             _‘My son. I miss you. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I had done things differently.’_

_‘Don’t. Both you and Yukio did everything you could. I don’t blame you for my death. Please tell Yukio that I miss him and love him, and that I’m all right and waiting for him, for you.’_

_‘Aki...’_

_‘I love you. I always will. You don’t forget that when you go.’_

_‘I love you too, Aki.’_

            Akihiro moved away and another soul moved close. This one touched him on the arm and an image of Hiei, his eighth son who had been murdered on his way home with a caravan of traders that had gone to Kōtsuke, formed in his mind. Some villagers had seen the snake-hanyou and attacked him, and because he had been trying so hard not to seriously hurt or kill any of his attackers, he’d gotten cornered and eventually killed. At least, that was what the traders who saw the whole thing told him had happened and he had no reason to disbelieve them.

_‘Hiei?’_

_‘Hello, Father.’_

            He reached out to touch the soul but his hand slipped right through it.

             _‘Hiei...’_  he repeated, guilt and regret filling his mind.

             _‘It’s all right, Father. I know.’_

_‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t there...’_

_‘You couldn’t have known what would happen. I had gone with the traders many times before. But there is something you need to know about that day.’_

_‘What?’_

             _‘The mob was just an excuse to rob the wagons. They hadn’t really intended to kill me. They knew in the end that they’d brought their own deaths on their heads.’_

 _‘So it was a mistake?’_  he blurted, his heart twisting in his chest. How could this disembodied form still feel so real?

_‘Somewhat, yes. But my death roused the traders to fight back and chase them off, and in doing so the supplies the village needed were saved.’_

_‘Those dishonorable bastards!’_

_‘It’s all right. I died a long time ago and I’ve forgiven them.’_

_‘I **don’t**  forgive them!’_

            Hiei laughed softly.  _‘You will. When you die everything becomes clearer.’_

_‘How can you say such things? They murdered you for a few bolts of cloth and some baubles!’_

_‘It doesn’t matter. I’m beyond all of that now. But I didn’t get the chance to say good-bye. To tell you how much I loved you and how grateful I am to have been your son. You gave me everything you had to give. Thank you.’_

_‘Hiei...’_

            The soul moved away and a third came up to him. This one floated right in front of his face, just above Kagome but not touching her. Then he felt its coldness seep into his forehead and he shivered as a face he had seen but once in his life appeared in his mind’s eye.

             _‘My son,_ ’ Inu no Taishou said.

             _‘Oyaji...’_

_‘You never knew me, but I have watched you. You have surpassed my greatest expectations, Inuyasha. I am proud to call you son.’_

            A lump formed in his throat.  _‘Oyaji...’_

_‘I love you, my son. I will see you again. That is all I have to say.’_

_‘I love you too, Oyaji. Thank you for Tessaiga.’_

_‘It was always meant for you and you have used it well. Be strong. Live with honor until we see each other again.’_

_‘I will. I promise.’_

            The fourth soul came up to him as his father’s pulled away and touched him on the shoulder opposite to the one Akihiro had touched. The last face in the world he had expected to see flashed before his eyes and he trembled.

             _‘Hi,’_  Hiro’s voice, soft and edgy as it had always been in life, whispered.

            ‘ _Hiro,’_  he replied, his heart aching.

             _‘I just wanted to say don’t feel bad about what you did. I don’t blame you for killing me. I know it was hard for you to make the choice, but you made the right one. I would have killed Mother and everyone else who crossed my path. The fire in me had taken over and I couldn’t control it anymore. If you hadn’t stopped me when you did, nothing would have.’_

             _‘I wish I had known. I... I could have given you a sealing sword to curb your youkai blood...’_  he admitted.

             _‘There was no way you could have predicted what was going to happen.’_

_‘I tried to bring you back.’_

_‘I know you did.’_

_‘I didn’t want to do it.’_

_‘You didn’t have a choice.’_

_‘It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.’_

_‘I know.’_

_‘I’m so sorry.’_

             _‘I forgive you. You... you were the best father I could ever have asked for. Thank you.’_

_‘I always loved you.’_

_‘I know. And I always loved you. I still do. Thank you for saving me from myself.’_

_‘Hiro...’_

_‘Good-bye, Father. I’ll see you again when you come to the Other Side.’_

            Hiro receded and the fifth soul came forward to touch his cheek. He hadn’t really stopped crying since Akihiro had touched him, but the sweet face of his mother made a fresh batch spill over.

             _‘Haha-ue.’_

_‘Inuyasha, my sweet boy. I love you so much. I’m sorry I had to leave you when you were so little and left you all alone.’_

_‘I don’t blame you, Haha-ue.’_

_‘You’ve grown up into a fine man. I am so proud of you. You overcame so much and were so strong and brave.’_

            He looked down at Kagome who was still quiet and motionless in his arms.

             _‘I had help, Haha-ue. Without her, I don’t know what would have become of me. She saved me, not only from Kikyou’s Seal, but from myself. She gave me back my soul.’_

_‘She was always meant for you, my son. Her love and pure heart were exactly what you needed. Please tell her I could not have wished for a better mate for my beloved boy.’_

_‘I will, I promise.’_

_‘I love you. We’ll see each other again.’_

_‘I love you too, Haha-ue.’_

            He felt her kiss him just as she floated away. There was only one soul left who hadn’t touched him and instinctively he knew who it was. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt a cold shiver run up his back, right between his shoulder blades.

             _‘Sai...’_

_‘Father. It feels so good to be here again Father. I remember all the days you carried me on your back. You’d go slow so I could hold on and wouldn’t fall.’_

_‘Sai.’_

            The image of his sixteenth son appeared in his mind, his twisted limbs and scaled skin, and a sob worked its way out of his throat as even more tears fell.

            ‘ _Don’t cry, Father. I wasn’t in any pain.’_

_‘It... it didn’t hurt?’_

_‘No. I was beyond feeling by that point.’_

_‘I’m sorry. There... there wasn’t anything we could do for you. Your mother and I tried and tried but nothing helped. We couldn’t stand to see you lying there, gasping for breath...’_ he explained, brokenly.

_‘I know. I know everything. It’s all right.’_

_‘Forgive me.’_

_‘I do. I forgave you the moment you did it. I was grateful. You refused to let me suffer.’_

_‘We loved you too much for that.’_

_‘I know. I never should have lived. My life was short and full of hardship, but you loved me all the more. I couldn’t have asked for better parents, Father. I knew I was loved every day of my life. Thank you.’_

_‘Sai. I love you.’_

_‘I know. I love you too, and I’m waiting. We’ll all be together again someday.’_

The coldness on his back faded and he looked to see all six souls floating in front of him.

             _‘We have to go now, Father,’_  Akihiro told him.

            They began to rotate in a clockwise spinning ring, their light all blurring together.

             _‘But we’ll give you our strength to help you in your task,’_  his mother added.

             _‘Don’t let Mother go,’_  Sai said.

             _‘Hold her close to you and keep her safe,’_  Hiei urged.

             _‘Tell her we love her,’_ Hiro requested.

            ‘ _Be strong,’_ his father reminded.

            There was a surge of light from the spinning ring and he felt new strength pour into him. It flooded through his tired, grieving soul and suffused him with the power of their love.

             _‘Thank you,’_  he whispered as he took the gift and put it into his bond with Kagome.

             _‘We love you,’_  they all said in unison.

             _‘I love you too. I’ll never forget you.’_

_‘We’ll see each other again.’_

_‘I look forward to that day.’_

_‘As do we. Good-bye.’_

            One by one the spinning souls veered off and sped towards the vortex, blinking out as they entered its center.

            Left alone with his mate, Inuyasha drew her even closer and felt for her through the cord. The strength the souls had given him had passed through the bond and rushed into her, spreading throughout her body and filling her with renewed energy. A moment later she stirred in his arms and opened her eyes.

_‘Inu... yasha?’_

_‘Kagome.’_

             _‘Are we still here?’_

_‘Yes. I’m still holding you, koi.’_

_‘I know. I can feel it. Thank you.’_

_‘Anything for you, koishii. I’ll hold you forever if I have to.’_

            She smiled tiredly at him. ‘ _That won’t be necessary.’_

 _‘Are you almost ready to go back?’_  he asked hopefully.

            She nodded.  _‘Soon.’_

_‘Okay.’_

_‘Hold me tight, koi?’_

_‘Of course.’_

_‘I love you.’_

_‘I love you too, Kagome.’_

            She closed her eyes again and slipped away, but he knew it was almost time for them to return. The spirits of his loved ones had given him the extra bit of strength he had needed to complete his task and keep Kagome with him. A moment later, he felt her pull on the bond and knew she was telling him that it was time to go back. Gladly he tightly gripped Tenseiga and followed her back to the land of the living.

            It wouldn’t be until much later that Inuyasha would realize that all six souls, regardless of whether they had been youkai, human or hanyou had all looked the same.

********

            The hours passed in tense silence. No one left in the group wanted to leave long enough to get something to eat so Uncle ordered a catered meal to be brought to the waiting room. Yukio, Eri, Miroku, and Mama-baachan all sat together to keep vigil over Inuyasha while Uncle and Aunt Rin sat together to work on ‘The Case of the Switched Doctors’ and Midorikyou sat pretty much by herself with Mariko set up as a self-proclaimed attendant. The immortal miko had decided to stay until Inuyasha awakened, although it was also decided that telling Inuyasha that they had been considering separating him from Kagome was a very bad idea. Midorikyou agreed that all that would be said of her presence was that she had been called to see what help she could offer.

            Izayoi was also grateful for her presence after she and Tetsu returned around 5pm because, between Mariko and the immortal miko, they were able to set up strong enough barriers around Tetsu so that nothing got through to trigger his Sight. The young dragon-hanyou was so exhausted and worn-out from the stress that not even his sword was able to shield him completely anymore, and even though she had taken him back to the house to rest, he hadn’t slept for more than two fitful hours. Midorikyou had a calming effect on him as well, and Izayoi saw her brother relax and some of the tension lines leave his face. He was asleep, truly asleep, within minutes and that was exactly what he needed.

            The sun set and the shifts changed, giving them an entirely new set of medical personnel to deal with when they went up to visit Kagome or in to see the newborn. Yukio had been up to see his mother once with his sister Eri and that had been enough for him. It was difficult for him to see his father motionless and unresponsive on the waiting room couch. It was impossible for him to look at his mother, half buried under a multitude of tubes and wires, with the respirator tube shoved down her throat. She didn’t even look like the woman he knew and adored, and seeing her like that was more than he could bear. In addition, his mother’s night nurse had taken a shine to him, and had expressed deep sympathy when he told her of their situation. She had promised to let him know the moment his mother’s condition changed. He knew that she was trying to gain his favor, and while she was attractive and very nice, he didn’t have the heart to tell her he wasn’t interested.

            More police came in to speak with Mama-baachan and a detective even interviewed him about Dr. Hattori and his mother’s care, although Miroku knew better than he about Hattori’s first visit. It looked like the investigation was going rather well, even if things looked pretty grim for the young doctor. It didn’t help any that he was quoted to as having said that he never knew humans were ‘so fragile as to die from something as insignificant as high blood pressure’ in his statement to police.

            Things calmed down after the officers left and they settled in to wait some more. The long hours were maddening, and they’d taken to playing card games to pass the time and get their minds off of what was happening. So far the staff up in the ICU had said there had been no change in their mother’s condition and from what they could tell from their father that was true. By now Kagome had been in the coma for just under sixteen hours.

            The newborn was doing fine although they worried about him being all by himself in the nursery. Inu-youkai pups needed contact with their pack members, especially their mother, for proper bonding and emotional support. Mama-baachan went in as often as they would let her and held the new pup just so he would have a pack member with him as much as possible. She wouldn’t replace the pup’s need to be with his mother, but she was better than nothing.

            Yukio, Eri and Miroku were involved in a game of Five Card Stud when they heard Inuyasha draw a deep breath. Game immediately forgotten they all rushed to his side; all of them except Uncle that is, who remained impassive and silent against a nearby wall. As they watched, their hearts pounding, Inuyasha took another deep breath, then coughed and choked a bit. Yukio put himself in the fore and spread out his arms to keep the others back as Inuyasha began to struggle feebly, his head moving and his legs kicking out. Then he suddenly groaned and rolled, pitching himself right off the couch and onto the floor face-first with a crunching thud. Both swords clattered to the hard tile and landed right next to him.

            “Otou!” Yukio cried, and knelt down next to him. “Otou-san can you hear me?”

            A low moan was his answer, then his father slid his hands underneath himself and pushed up. It took him a couple of tries but he finally rose to all fours, his head hanging down as if it was too heavy for him to lift.

            “Otou-san?” he called again.

            His father moaned, then growled, then choked loudly and began to cough. The coughing escalated into gagging which culminated in his vomiting what little there was in his stomach after 16 hours of unconsciousness all over the white tile floor. When he was finished, he slumped back down, avoiding the mess he had made and rolled to his back, panting heavily. One hand clutched at his chest and his eyes stared at the ceiling, darting back and forth in confusion.

            “Otou-san,” Yukio tried a third time.

            “Kagome,” Inuyasha rasped hoarsely. “Where... where is Kagome?”

            Yukio was so relieved to hear his father’s voice that he almost started bawling right then and there, but he managed to hold his emotions in check as he looked down into the still dilated golden eyes.

            “Okaa-san is in Intensive Care. She went into a coma after she had the seizures. But if you’re awake...” ‘ _If Otou-san is awake, then Okaa-san must be alright. If he’s conscious, then she must be out of the coma.’_

            “Seizures?” his father repeated, as if tasting the word. He didn’t seem to be all there just yet.

            “Yes. Okaa-san was in labor and something went wrong...” He trailed off. He didn’t know how much he should tell his father so soon after his awakening.

            There was a moment of silence, then Inuyasha whispered, “I remember. We... we were in the room, and... and Kagome’s blood pressure went too high. The damn doctor was an asshole and then...” His eyes flared wide open as he gasped and struggled to sit up. “The pup! Where’s the pup?! What happened to the pup??!!”

            Yukio put a hand on Inuyasha’s shoulder to calm him.

            “He’s alive. He’s in the nursery.”

            Inuyasha reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out the scrap of blue cloth.

            “A boy. We had a boy,” his father choked, bringing the cloth close to his nose. “Where is he now?”

            “In the nursery,” Yukio repeated. “I can take you to him if you want. Or... or do you want to see Okaa-san first? If you’re awake, then she must be out of the coma.”

            “Coma? Kagome was in a coma?”

_‘He must not have heard me the first time...’_

            “Yes, Otou-san. Okaa-san was in a coma. Do you want me to take you to her?”

            Yukio could see the indecision marring his father’s face. On one hand, it was obvious that he was concerned about his mate, but on the other hand, he was worried for his newborn son as well.

            Inuyasha looked around him and spied Tessaiga and Tenseiga lying beside him on the floor. Slowly he reached for them and picked up both swords by their sheaths, holding one in each hand as he looked dazedly at them.

            “Tenseiga...” Yukio heard his father murmur, then Inuyasha raised glassy eyes to him. “How long?”

            “Sixteen hours.”

            He could see higher brain function returning to his father and had to smile.

            “Who’s been caring for the pup?”

            “The hospital staff. But Mama-baachan has gone in several times to feed him, and we wrapped him in a pillowcase from your and Okaa-san’s bed so he would imprint on your scents.”

            “They didn’t take him to his mother?”

            Yukio shook his head. “They couldn’t. Okaa-san was on a respirator. It was no place for a newborn pup.”

            Inuyasha fell silent again, his breathing slightly elevated, and he looked once more at the swords in his hands.

            “This Sesshoumaru will take his sword,” Uncle’s voice announced.

            Yukio turned his head to see the taiyoukai standing directly behind them, his face expressionless as he looked down at his half-brother. Inuyasha stilled and met the cold gaze, his face also uncharacteristically unreadable. In that moment, Yukio realized how very much the two brothers looked alike. His father’s face was always animated with emotion, his eyes bright and flashing, but when he was calm and his features smooth it was easy to see that the two were related.

            There was obviously some form of silent communication passing between the two siblings that no one else was privy to. They weren’t even speaking inu-youkai but it was very apparent that messages were being passed and received. Finally, after several long moments, Yukio saw Inuyasha scowl then haphazardly toss Tenseiga to its rightful owner. Uncle caught it without hesitation.

            “Thanks,” Inuyasha said.

            Uncle nodded once then turned on his heel and walked away. He did not stop as he strode right out of the waiting room and presumably out of the hospital. His aunt gave them a little shrug and a sweet smile, then hurried after her mate.

            “We’ll be in touch,” she promised.

            “Keh. Typical,” his father barked, but there was no heat in it, then he put out a hand. “Take me to the pup.”

            Yukio immediately took the offered hand and helped him rise to his feet. Inuyasha’s legs were weak and he stumbled several times before he got his balance. Still, once he was up he managed to look at the handful of his children who had gathered and offer them a tiny smile. Then his eyes fell on Midorikyou and they flared open with surprise for just a moment.

            “Kikyou…” Yukio heard his father breathe.

            The immortal miko approached and his father struggled to stand on his own, roughly pulling his arm from his son’s grasp. He straightened and met her calm gaze with one of his own.

            “We are glad you have awakened,” she said with a little bow. “We were called to see if we could help.”

            “Well, ummm. Thank you for coming,” Inuyasha said, his voice confused and tentative.

 _‘He’s always like this around her. It’s like he doesn’t know what to say,_ ’ Yukio thought.

            “How’ve you been?” his father asked timidly, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

            “We are well, thank you.”

            “That’s... good.”

            Midorikyou smiled a soft and secret smile as if she knew that Inuyasha was tongue-tied and found it amusing. “We are pleased to have been of some small help and comfort.” She turned to Shippou. “We are ready to leave now.”

            Shippou nodded and bowed, then approached Inuyasha.

            “I’m glad you’re going to be alright. We’ll take Midorikyou back to Zenko-ji, go home to get some rest, and then we’ll be back to check on you,” he said.

            Inuyasha put out a hand and the kitsune grasped him by the forearm.

            “Thank you,” his father whispered.

            Shippou smiled and winked. “I knew you were too stubborn to let her die.”

            “Oi. If I had the strength, I’d pound you right now.”

            “Save it for the doctor who did this,” Shippou warned.

            Inuyasha’s face darkened. “Yeah.”

            Shippou smiled and released Inuyasha’s arm. “We’ll be back.”

            “Okay.”

            Mitsiyomi gave them a little smile and a bow, then the three left quietly, leaving Yukio behind with just his father, grandmother and siblings. Tetsu, having slept a good four hours, looked much better, but he noticed that both Izayoi and Mariko were staying close to him.

Inuyasha looked at all of them and smiled again. “Let’s go get the pup.”

            Yukio stopped him for a moment.

            “Here. Kitarou brought fresh clothes for you. Why don’t you change your shirt before you go in to see the pup? Yours has blood on it.”

            His father looked down at the blood splattered t-shirt and gave a slight nod.

            “Yeah,” he agreed, and took the cloth by the collar, ripping it cleanly off without any trouble.

            Yukio fished a clean shirt out of the bag Kitarou had brought, snickering at the image of Homer Simpson and the line “I See Stupid People” winking back at him from the dark fabric, and helped his father slip it on. Then he helped fasten Tessaiga to his father’s waistband.

            “Okay, am I ready now?” Inuyasha asked, slightly annoyed.

            Yukio tugged on one unruly lock of his father’s hair and smirked. “Well, you could use a wash and trim, but I don’t think there’s enough time for that.”

            :Insolent pup,: Inuyasha barked in inu-youkai.

            :Impatient Leader-male,: he barked back.  _‘That’s right. I’m not Alpha anymore.’_  He grinned, suppressing the urge to throw his arms around his father and weep with relief, and straightened out a wrinkle in his father’s shirt. “ ** _Now_**  let’s go get the pup.”

            “About fucking time.”

            Yukio gave his father another grin and motioned for him to go through the maternity ward doors. Inuyasha snorted and took a step forward, but he stumbled and Yukio immediately caught him.

_‘Hmm, still a bit weak.’_

            Inuyasha recovered quickly, rolled his shoulders back and straightened up.

            “You okay?” he asked.

            “I’m fine,” Inuyasha insisted and took another step, this one steady.

            Two steps more and he was walking fine on his own, so they all fell in behind him as he threw open the ward doors with both hands, strode up to the side door of the nursery and pounded on it with his fist.

            “Oi! Open up!”

            A shaky voice tremored over the intercom next to the door. “Yes?”

            “I’m Fushikenwa Inuyasha. I’ve come for my son.”

            There was a moment of silence, then the voice replied, “Only parents and grandparents may come in.”

            “That’s fine. I’m his father. Now open up.”

            There was another moment of silence and Inuyasha started growling under his breath. Yukio saw him finger Tessaiga’s hilt and gasped.

            “Otou-san, there are pups in there!” he hissed.

            His father’s growl grew a little louder, but the hand dropped away from the sword.

            “Fushikenwa-san! Fushikenwa-san!” came a new voice, and Yukio turned to see who it was.

            Making her way through the seven of them to get to him was the night nurse from the ICU.

             _‘Bless her. I knew she’d come to tell me the moment something happened,’_  he thought.

            “I came to tell you, Fushikenwa-san, that your mother has regained consciousness,” she told him breathlessly.

_‘Okaa-san woke up. But then, I knew she had.’_

            He smiled at the young youkai female making her sigh. “Thank you.”  _‘Love-struck already? Oh how I hate breaking hearts.’_

            “Great,” his father snarled. “Now tell these idiots to open this door before I knock it down.”

            The nurse blinked at Inuyasha then back at him. He gave her a little shrug. “Our baby brother is in there and my father wants him.”

            Reaching past him, she buzzed the nursery.

            “Yes?” came the same nervous voice.

            “Open the door. Fushikenwa-san wants his son.”

            “The infant hasn’t been cleared to leave the nursery yet,” the disembodied voice replied.

            “Oi! Open the fucking door before I fucking kick it down! I want my son!”

            The ICU nurse cast Inuyasha frightened glance. “You’d better do as he says and just open the door.”

            “We’ll call security,” the voice threatened.

            “More bull-youkais?” Inuyasha sneered. “Bring ‘em on. I’m in the mood for steak!”

            “Just open the door!” the nurse pleaded.

            There was a loud buzz and a click. The ICU nurse grabbed the door handle and turned it quickly, pushing the door open. Inuyasha shoved his way past her and entered the nursery, casting his eyes about for the owner of the voice. Finally, he looked down to see a diminutive tanuki youkai cowering by the intercom. She’d needed a stool just to reach the buzzer.

            “Keh,” he sniffed and blew past her, making a b-line for the bassinet that held the new pup.

            “This is highly irregular!” the tanuki nurse squeaked as they all came in behind him. “Only parents and grandparents are allowed in!!”

            “Don’t worry,” Eri assured her. “We’re not staying.”

            Yukio followed at Inuyasha’s heels until he stopped at the blue wrapped bundle at the end of the room. He paused and let his father have a moment with his newborn son, watching the older hanyou as he looked upon his pup for the first time.

            Inuyasha’s face was a portrait of stunned wonder as he gazed at the sleeping pup, his eyes wide and his mouth slack-jawed, but then the pup squirmed and opened his big golden eyes, and Yukio swore he saw his father fighting tears. With shaking hands, he reached into the bassinet and picked up its precious contents. He brought the pup close to his face, nuzzling him lovingly and licking him gently to get his taste. The pup responded to the scent and presence of his father by burbling and letting out a soft cry.

            :Pup. My pup,: Inuyasha barked softly, then crinkled his nose. “Pup needs changed.”

            Nine sets of eyes looked to the tanuki nurse who turned three shades whiter.

            “I’ll do it,” the ICU nurse offered, lifting a clean diaper from the stack of diapers on a nearby shelf.

            They parted to let her pass and she changed the newborn with amazing efficiency, then gave him back to his grateful father.

            “Thank you,” Inuyasha said, all of his anger and upset forgotten now that the pup was in his arms.

             _‘It’s almost like someone flipped a switch,’_  Yukio mused.

            Arms wrapped around his newborn son, Inuyasha smiled at the tiny face, his eyes soft and loving.

            “What do you say we go see your mother, hm? You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

            “I’ll take you up,” the ICU nurse offered, smiling at Yukio as she passed him.

            He rolled his eyes and shook his head.  _‘She can try all she wants but she isn’t going to get anywhere.’_

            His father nodded and they all followed her out of the maternity ward and up to the ICU. Once they were on the floor, most of them stayed behind in the ICU waiting room, leaving only Yukio to go in with his father and the pup.

            “We don’t want to overwhelm her all at once and you know she’ll feel she has to pay attention to all of us if we’re there,” Mariko explained. “Besides, she should have a few moments alone with you and the new pup before we descend upon her.”

            Inuyasha gave her a grateful smile and nodded. “Thanks.”

            The ICU nurse buzzed them through and Yukio directed his father to his mother’s cubicle.

            “She’s in cubicle six,” he said, taking a right and heading down the short hallway.

            The rooms in ICU weren’t so much rooms as they were three-sided compartments with open fronts so that the ICU nurses could observe each patient from the central station. Each cubicle had a curtain that could be drawn across the open side for privacy while doctors and nurses were treating or examining a patient. They stopped short of cubicle six when they saw that the curtain had been drawn.

            “They must be working on her,” the ICU nurse told them sadly.

            Yukio saw his father’s ears go up and knew he was listening to the goings on behind the curtain. He put his own ears up to listen as well, ignoring the nurse’s giggle when she saw him perk them up.

             _‘Okay. She’s been very, very nice, and very, very helpful, but she’s starting to get on my nerves,’_  he thought dourly.

            “... kenwa-san,” he heard a male voice saying. “Can you hear us? Fushikenwa-san, if you understand what we are saying, please squeeze my hand.”

            “Nu...yash...” his mother’s soft, almost strangled voice replied.

            Beside him, he saw his father tense and put out a hand to stop him from going in.

            “Wait until they’re done,” he admonished.

            Inuyasha growled but backed down, his ears flattening then shooting right back up when his mother spoke again.

            “Ba...by...ba...by.”

            “Did the patient recently give birth?” the male voice asked.

            “Yes. The patient was admitted to the ICU for an eclamptic coma,” a female voice answered.

            “Did the child live?”

            “Yes, he is in the nursery.”

            “Where is the husband? Is there a husband?”

            He heard his father growl again, his face drawn into a scowl. The pup, somewhat aware of his surroundings, fussed a little at the angry sound and Inuyasha hurried to shush him. It was so amusing to see his normally gruff father lightly bouncing the pup in his arms and soothing the newborn so he’d be quiet.

_‘Hmmm, maybe his arms have been empty for too long just like Okaa-san’s’_

            “Has the husband been notified of the change in his wife’s condition?”

            “A nurse was dispatched to tell the family. Most of them have been waiting down in the maternity ward.”

            “Did you hear that Fushikenwa-san? A nurse went down to tell your husband that you’ve awakened. I think he will be very happy to hear that. He’ll be even happier to hear that you’ll be moved to the Stable ward just as soon as your blood work comes back and we confirm that everything is how it’s supposed to be,” the male said.

            “Yash... b...by,” Kagome whispered brokenly, then whined very clearly in inu-youkai, :Mate? Pup. Where pup?:

            That was it. Not even a dozen bull-youkai’s could have stopped his father from going to her at that point. Inuyasha strode ahead, pulled aside the curtain, ripping it down halfway off of its sliding rings and moved to Kagome’s side.

            “Kagome!” he blurted, then stopped when he saw her surrounded by machines and tubes, his eyes opened wide in surprise.

            Two youkai were standing next to the bed, a male and a female, both in white lab coats.

            “Ah, you must be the husband,” the male said then spied the infant. “Sir, this ward is no place for an infant. We have patients up here with infectious diseases...” He looked at the now cowering ICU nurse. “How could you let him bring a newborn up here?”

            The ICU nurse bit her lip and looked chagrined. “I...”

            “It’s all right. My pup’s a hanyou. And my mate’s a doctor. The pup’ll be fine. I won’t let him get close to anyone here,” Inuyasha insisted, overcoming his initial shock and muscling his way to Kagome’s side.

            Yukio saw his mother turn her head wearily in Inuyasha’s direction.

            “Kagome?” he breathed softly.

            “Yahhh...ssshhhaa.”

            His father held the pup in one arm and took Kagome’s hand with the other. “I’m here, koi. I’m right here.”

            “Baaahhhyyybbeeee?”

            He tilted he bundle in his arms so Kagome could see the newborn. “He’s here too, koi. We had a boy. See? He’s perfect. He looks just like you.”

            Yukio saw tears well up in his mother’s eyes and she lifted one tube-riddled arm to reach for her son, lightly brushing the edge of the blue blanket with her fingertips.

            “Boy,” she choked, wetness rolling down her cheeks as the pup looked at her and she saw her infant’s face for the first time.

            “When will you move her?” Yukio asked, commanding the doctor’s attention.

            “As soon as her blood work comes back, which could be in as little as another hour.”

            He tugged at his father’s sleeve. “Otou-san, we should take the pup out of here. The doctor is right. This place isn’t safe for a newborn.”

            His father seemed reluctant to go and looked to Kagome.

            “Kagome?”

            She gave him a tired nod and squeezed his hand. “Go,” she whispered. “No... saaaffe.” :Protect pup.:

            Yukio saw his father swallow hard and nod. “Okay. But I’ll be right there when they move you. I won’t leave your side.”

            Kagome gave his hand another squeeze then released it and made a slight shooing gesture. Then Yukio took his father by the shoulders and urged him out.

            “We’ll know when they move her. They won’t be able to sneak past us, I promise,” he assured his father then looked to the doctor. “Tell us the moment you move her.”

            The doctor nodded. “We will.”

            It was on that promise alone that he was able to get Inuyasha to leave his mother and go back to the ICU waiting room. Once in the waiting room, his father chose the seat closest to the ward doors so he would be certain not to miss when they moved Kagome. Yukio didn’t have the heart to tell him that they’d probably use a patient elevator in the ward and not come through the waiting room at all. Still, they’d be sure to smell her the moment they moved her from the cubicle.

            While things were still tense, the mood had changed and there was an air of relief around them. Now that they knew Kagome was going to recover, the pressure was off and they could relax. His father cradled the pup close and they all gathered around him in a tight group. Yukio sat in the chair to his right and Mama-baachan sat in the one on his left while the others clustered nearby, bringing chairs around to make a tight circle. Up until now the pup had been relatively quiet, but now that the “pack” had stopped moving and his natural instinct to freeze had subsided, he let them know he was there, loudly. Inuyasha shushed him and rocked him, hushing his plaintive cries as Mama-baachan went back down to the nursery to get a bottle of formula.

            “What?” his father said to the pup. “You got a problem? You got some complaint?”

            His words were harsh but his tone was completely neutral, if not on the gentle side.

            “Look, I know you want your mother, but you can’t have her right now. You’re stuck with Oyaji so get used to it and quit the caterwauling, eh?”

            The pup snuffled and hiccupped, but stopped wailing. That was when Yukio noticed that his father had very discretely placed one hand on the scruff of the pup’s neck and was applying light pressure.

            “There. That’s better,” his father praised. “Now Oyaji can hear and you’re not making his head ache. Oyaji’s had a bitch of a day, pup, and he feels like he just smashed a motorcycle into the side of a barn at 110km an hour. And believe me, he’d know coz he’s done it- twice. Remind me to tell you about it later, when you’re old enough to drive.”

            Mama-baachan returned with the bottle and Inuyasha sniffed at it and frowned, but brought the nipple to the pup’s mouth and held the bottle for him while he fed. Yukio watched the display with mild amusement. He, being the oldest, had vivid memories of his father with pups and knew quite well how Inuyasha behaved around them. With the sole exception of Eri, however, all of the others gathered had either been too little themselves or had already left their parents’ house when a new pup had arrived, and they had never seen the change come over their father when he became paternal. He looked over and saw what he thought was a hint of jealousy in Miroku’s eyes.

            “If you think he didn’t act that way with you when you were that size, you’re dead wrong,” he whispered, nudging his brother.

            Miroku looked at him and flattened his ears.

            “He barely put you down. Okaa-san sat him more often because of you than any other pup I’d ever seen them raise. Then again, we were living with Uncle and he was worried that one of the courtiers who supported  ** _Her_**  was going to try to kill you at any moment. So other than when you were nursing, being changed, or Okaa-san was holding you,  ** _he_**  was the one who wore the baby sling. I’ll pause a moment to let you digest that image.”

            He saw Miroku considering his words and he knew his brother was conjuring a picture of their father, dressed in the Fire-Rat clothes he wore pretty much exclusively until the turn of the 20th century, holding Tessaiga in one hand and looking very intimidating, but with a baby sling hooked over one shoulder and an infant version of himself peeping out of it. Miroku licked his lower lip, then pursed his mouth but it was too late. A strangled snicker escaped and Inuyasha’s radar-ears came up immediately.

            “Oi! What are you two laughing about?” their father complained, trying to look menacing which was very hard to do considering he had the pup in one hand and the bottle the infant was nursing from in the other.

            Miroku looked at him and they both started giggling. “Nothing,” they both said in unison.

            Inuyasha growled but that only increased their mirth, and Miroku dropped his head to Yukio’s shoulder, still snickering.

            “Thanks. I needed that,” his brother admitted.

            Yukio gave him a soft smile. “Anytime.”

            The pup finished eating and the two snickered some more as they watched Inuyasha burp him and pat his bottom.

             _‘We are going to be in soooooo much trouble later,_ ’ Yukio thought, but there was no fear in him. In fact, the idea of his father going into one of his ‘I’m not going soft’ tirades sounded like pure bliss to him right now because it meant both of his parents were alive and well.

            “Okay, now it’s my turn. I haven’t held this little scamp,” Eri insisted, opening her arms.

            Yukio watched his father size Eri up, almost as if deciding if she was capable of holding the newborn, then slowly handed him over.

            “Watch his head!” Inuyasha scolded when she took him a little faster than he liked.

            Eri scowled and gave her father a dour look before bouncing the pup lightly.

            “Hey there, little man,” she said tenderly.

            The pup responded with a little whine.

            “Yeah, I know. So far this whole ‘life’ thing’s kinda sucked hasn’t it? First you get pushed out of your warm home, then all these strange people poke and prod you and leave you all by yourself. Then more strange people come and they pick you up and move you this way and that, and cart you all over and you have no idea where you are or where Mom and Dad are. And they feed you from a bottle and stick plastic on your butt. Then to top it all off, you find out your dad is a dog. It’s enough to make anyone want to crawl back into the womb and never come out, huh?”

            “Oi! Will you quit it with the dog jokes!” Inuyasha complained.

            Eri stuck out her tongue and cuddled her baby brother close to her chest.

            “Don’t worry, baby. He’s all bark and no bite,” she cooed at the infant who snuffled into her shoulder.

            Inuyasha growled but that only made them smile wider. Finally, he lifted his nose, closed his eyes and snorted.

            “Keh,” Yukio whispered to Miroku, a smile tugging at his lips just as his father let out a loud “KEH!,” crossed his arms and turned his shoulder to them.

            “I can too bite. I just don’t do it in public anymore,” Inuyasha sniffed indignantly.

            “Ohhhh! Poor Otou-san!” Izayoi comforted, hugging him and fuzzling his ears.

            “Oi. You’re just humoring me, aren’t you?”

            Izayoi giggled and kissed him on the cheek, then turned to her sister and opened her arms.

            “My turn.”

            Inuyasha scowled and watched them like a hawk as Eri passed the pup over to her sister. Izayoi’s eyes brimmed with happy tears as she looked at her baby brother’s face.

            “Hi,” she whispered, stroking one round cheek.

            They spent the next forty minutes acquainting themselves with the new pup, and aside from a few American football references wherein Miroku encouraged Izayoi to “go deep” and toss the pup to him, everything went well. Tetsu even took a short turn holding the pup in his lap where he could put one hand on his little brother and keep one hand on his sword.

            “I’m not the baby anymore,” was all he really managed to say.

            Almost exactly one hour to the minute later, a nurse came out of the ICU to inform them that Kagome was being moved to the Stable ward. While her blood pressure was still rather high, she was no longer in need of intensive care and would be relocated to a different floor. The doctors predicted that she would remain hospitalized for at least another twenty-four hours or until her blood pressure went down far enough that they were satisfied she was at no risk of a relapse.

            En masse the family relocated to a third waiting room, this one on the same floor where Kagome had been hospitalized for observation after her false labor. Tetsu, a huge Star Trek fan, jokingly dubbed the floor The Observation Deck, and they took over the small room and called for pizza and salads to be brought in for supper- even managing to sneak in a couple of servings of ramen for Inuyasha. Then they began making calls to everyone in order to spread the good news. By now it was close to eleven at night and visiting hours were over, but none of them were going anywhere until they’d seen Kagome, and of course, nothing short of the End of the World as they knew it was going to pry Inuyasha from her side (and probably not even that would do it.)

            Finally, at almost a quarter to midnight, a nurse came to tell them they could go in to see her, but to keep it quick and stay quiet in the corridors because other patients were sleeping. Yukio motioned for his father to lead the way, although he needed no encouragement, and they quietly filed behind him as he carried the pup down to Kagome’s room.

            Kagome looked exhausted and her arms were riddled with bruises from where the IV lines had been connected to her, but she smiled at them from her hospital bed and Yukio thought his heart might burst right then and there because he was so happy. Still, he stopped himself from running over to her and hugging her breathless, and even managed to stand back at a respectable distance, which was hard with so many of them in a relatively small room, in order to allow his father to be the first to stand beside her.

            :Mate,: Inuyasha said in inu-youkai.

            :Mate,: Kagome answered.

            Inuyasha leaned down and nuzzled her lovingly, and Yukio didn’t miss the lick he gave her on her chin right before he kissed her sweetly. One hand came up to stroke her hair and tenderly hook a stray tendril behind her ear.

            “Kagome,” he breathed.

            “Inuyasha,” she replied.

            Yukio saw his father turn the sleeping pup in his arms and present him to his mother. Kagome put one hand to her mouth as she saw him turn the pup to face her and started to cry.

            “We have another son,” he told her.

            Kagome looked upon the newborn and smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded silently. Then she opened her arms and Inuyasha gently placed the pup in them, tucking the blue wrapped bundle close to his mother. The pup immediately woke and began to fuss.

            “He’s got your eyes,” she whispered.

            “Yeah, but he looks just like you.”

            “No he doesn’t. He’s got your chin too,” she disagreed as she lowered her hospital gown.

            “Kagome?” Inuyasha asked. “Kagome, are you sure you’re up to that?”

            She nodded. “I told the staff I’d be nursing so they didn’t give me anything that could hurt the baby through the milk.”

            “That’s not what I meant. You just came out of a coma...”

            His mother smiled. “It’s fine Inuyasha. Besides, all I have to do is hold him. He’s going to do all the work.”

            “They had to bottle feed him a couple of times,” Inuyasha admitted.

            “I guessed as much. It’ll be okay. I know some babies get confused switching between bottle and breast, but almost all of them get it eventually.”

            A moment later the newborn proved that confusion would not be an issue.

            Yukio watched as his parents went into their own little world that consisted of only each other and the new pup for several minutes as the pup fed. His father was standing as close as physically possible to her without being in the bed, and they were looking at each other lovingly. The expression on his father’s face was one of adoration and quiet pride. Seeing them, he felt his own pang of jealously at being excluded from such a profound and tender moment, but then his mother looked his way and smiled and all his resentment disappeared.

            “Yukio. Eri. Tetsu. Miroku. Izayoi. Mariko. Mama,” she called softly and that was their invitation to gather around the bed.

            “Okaa-san,” he whispered, standing next to his father beside the bed.

            “Mom.” “Mama.” “Kagome.” The others greeted as they clustered close.

            “We’re so glad you’re all right, Okaa-san,” Izayoi said, reaching to hold her mother’s hand.

            “Me too,” Kagome replied tiredly. “I love you all. I’m so happy to see you.”

            “Mama,” Tetsu choked. “I’m sorry, Mama. I Saw it but I couldn’t change it. I’m so sorry.”

            “Shhh. You shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened. I know you did all that you could,” Kagome comforted as Tetsu started to cry.

            “But I should have tried harder. I...”

            “There wasn’t anything you could have done differently,” she reassured him, releasing Izayoi’s hand and squeezing his.

            “I was so scared,” the dragon-hanyou admitted.

            “I know. It must have been terrible for you. I’m sorry to have worried you so much.”

             _‘She’s sorry **she**  worried  **us?** ’_ Yukio thought.

            “Okaa-san. As always, thinking of others before yourself,” Mariko commented gently.

            A soft knock interrupted them and a nurse peered into the room.

            “You ought to let her rest. It’s almost midnight and visiting hours have been over for two hours. Why don’t you go home and come back in the morning?” she said.

            “I’m staying right here,” Inuyasha insisted.

            The nurse squinted at him and furrowed her brow. “Oh. It’s you. I remember you from the last time you were here.” She sighed heavily. “I’ll bring a chair and blankets.”

            “And we’ll need a bassinet as well,” Kagome added. “I want my baby to stay close to me.”

            “I’ll see what I can do,” the nurse replied and left the room, closing the door behind her.

            “We should go. We’ve been here almost eighteen hours,” Izayoi commented.

            “And tomorrow will be insane because everyone will be coming in to see Okaa-san and the new pup,” Mariko agreed.

            “You should rest, Mama,” Tetsu said.

            Yukio leaned over and kissed his mother on the brow. “I love you, Okaa-san.”

            “I love you too, sweetheart.”

            “I... I don’t have words...” he tried.

            She stopped him with a tender kiss to his cheek. “I know. I understand.”

            “I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” he promised.

            “Okay.”

            He stepped back and let Miroku take his place.

            “I put your overnight bag on the floor near the window,” Miroku told her as he leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

            “Thank you, sweetheart.”

            “I’ll be back with Yukio,” his brother pledged.

            “Okay.”

            “I’ll be here around noon,” Eri stated, coming over to kiss her mother on the cheek as well as Miroku yielded to her.

            “Always the late riser,” Kagome teased lightly.

            “Hey, at least  ** _one_**  of your kids had to let you sleep in,” the neko-youkai quipped back.

            Kagome chuckled. “I’ll have to get used to sleep depravation again.”

            “Kagome, what have you decided to name the child?” Mama asked innocently.

            “Oh, ummm. Well, we haven’t decided, Mama. After the second miscarriage... we stopped naming them beforehand,” his mother admitted.

            “Oh.”

            “We’ll start talking about a name tomorrow,” she added.

            Yukio approached his father. “Is there anything you want me to bring with me tomorrow?”

            His father thought for a moment. “Some clothes. And my portfolio from my office. That has some of the plans I’m working on now. And some ramen.”

            He giggled. “Okay.”

            The nurse returned with two orderlies. One was carrying a chair and blankets and the other was wheeling a bassinet from the nursery.

            “I think that’s our cue,” Eri said.

            “We’ll be back tomorrow, Mama,” Tetsu assured her.

            “I’ll see you all then. I love you very much.”

            One by one they kissed her and said goodnight to their father, then they filed out slowly. Yukio let out the breath he was holding and felt the tension drain out of his shoulders.

             _‘Gods... 18 hours... I’ve been stuck in this horrible place full of sickness and death for 18 hours. God I need a drink. I know Otou-san wouldn’t really approve, but there is something to be said about the virtues of a good quality liquor.’_

            “So? Where to? Back to Tokyo House?” Miroku asked him as they walked down the hall.

            “No. I am feeling a desperate need for a drink... or two... or ten. How about you?” he replied.  _‘We haven’t gotten drunk together since the Winter Olympics were in Calgary in 1988. ’_

            “Lead the way.”

            “Count me in,” Eri added, stepping up to join them.

            “Ooo, can I come too?” Tetsu asked.

            “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Tetsu. Remember the last time you drank too much, you grabbed a woman’s wrist and told her she’d be giving birth to twins in 9 months from the one night stand she’d had two nights before,” Izayoi reminded.

            “Oh, yeah. I remember. She slapped me. Hard.”

            “Exactly. So I think it would be best if we passed this time. I’m sure there’s a stocked bar at the house if you want a drink.”

            “Okay. That sounds fine.”

            “Mama-baachan, would you like to go with Izayoi? She can take you back to the shrine,” Yukio offered.

            “Actually, a large quantity of alcohol sounds surprisingly good right about now. I’ll go with you if you don’t mind.”

            He shrugged. “The more the merrier.”

            “I can go along and be the designated driver,” Mariko offered.

            “Why don’t we just go to that bar down the street from the house? That way we can just stagger our way home after Last Call and not have to worry about driving at all?” Miroku suggested.

            Yukio slung his arm around his brother’s shoulder.

            “Miroku, my brother, that’s the best idea you’ve had all night,” he answered as they exited the hospital and headed into the parking garage to get their cars.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter Forty-Five

            The hospital door closed with a soft click that seemed too loud in the small room. Alone with his mate at last, Inuyasha sank to the floor with a grateful sigh as he dropped his bravado and his legs gave out.

            “Inuyasha? Are you alright?” Kagome asked him gently.

            “Yeah,” he replied wearily.

            “You’re a lot weaker than you let on.”

            “I’m fine,” he insisted, but the tone of his voice said otherwise.

            “Always have to be the macho man,” she scolded softly.

            “If I hadn’t, they never would have let me have the pup or come to see you,” he argued irritably.

            “You always were good at hiding your injuries.”

            “How’s the pup?” he asked, changing the subject.

            “He’s finished.”

            He reached up one hand, grabbed the sidebar of the hospital bed and used it to pull himself to his feet. Leaning on it for support, he looked down at his mate and newborn son.

             _‘A son. Alive and healthy,_ ’ he thought proudly.

            He reached over with his free hand and stroked the pup’s cheek. The newborn opened golden eyes and blinked at him.

            :Pup,: he wuffed softly.

            The pup yawned in answer and burped. Inuyasha turned to his mate, who was looking very much like he felt: worn out and run over with a truck, maybe even several trucks or a bus at least.

            “You look how I feel,” he said, a small smile on his lips.

            “If that’s true how are you still standing?”

            His smile turned wry. “Supreme hanyou powers.”

            She gave him an incredulous look. “More like supreme hanyou stubbornness.”

            “Feh,” he replied then sniffed. “I smell blood on you.”

            She nodded. “I’m bleeding. You know the period a woman has after a birth. It can be rather heavy at times.”

            “It smelled like woman’s blood so I wasn’t worried, but it’s very strong right now.”

            “I should probably do some clean-up then. Can you put him in the bassinet and help me to the bathroom? Are you up to that?”

            “Yeah. Just don’t ask me to do any handstands.”

            She smirked. “Not today. Maybe tomorrow though.”

            “Wench,” he groused, but flashed her a brief smile.

            Inuyasha slowly made his way around the bed and gently took the pup in his arms, giving him a little nuzzle before placing him carefully in the rolling bassinet. Then he lowered the side bar on the near side of the bed and helped his mate rise to her feet.

            “Ooooh, my legs feel like jelly,” she groaned.

            He put one arm around her waist and supported her. “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he vowed tenderly.

            Her hand gripped his forearm tightly. “I know.”

            Together they shuffled over to the private bathroom and he helped her in.

            “I should have some necessaries in my overnight bag. I think Miroku said he put it on the floor,” she told him.

            He cast about the room and his eyes fell on the item in question. “I see it.”

            “Just bring me the whole thing, please? I want to get out of this damn hospital gown.”

            He did as asked and retrieved the bag for her. Just as he was returning to the bathroom, he heard her curse softly.

            “What is it?” he asked, concerned.

            “They put me in a stupid adult diaper,” she answered with a heavy sigh. “And let’s just say that I know why you smell so much blood.”

            He handed her the bag and moved to come in with her but she stopped him.

            “Don’t come in here. Trust me, I don’t want to be in here with me; I won’t subject you to it,” she said, closing the door on him and locking it.

            He drooped his ears and waited outside the door dejectedly. He hated it when she shut him out, especially at times like these when he needed to be with her like he needed air to breathe.

_‘As if I mind her blood... She’s weak and exhausted. What if she tries to bend over and loses her balance? She could hit her head, stupid stubborn wench.’_

            He heard her cursing under her breath as she turned on the water in the sink and listened to her cleaning herself up, tracking her movements through sound.

            “Kagome? Are you all right?” he called when quite a while had passed and he was starting to get nervous.

            “I’m fine, Inuyasha,” she insisted.

            “You’re sure?”

            “Yes,” she replied, exasperated. “I’m almost finished so you can stop worrying.”

            “Who’s worried?” he snapped back with his old bluster.

            He heard her snicker. “Right, the great macho Inuyasha never worries.”

            “Keh!” he scoffed then added more softly, “Are you sure you don’t need me?”

            There was a pause then she answered, “I always need you, Inuyasha.”

            The knot in his heart unraveled and he sighed.  _‘She always knows just what to say.’_

            The door unlocked and he opened it, peering in to see her sitting on the closed commode, dressed in a button-up cotton nightgown.

            “Kagome?”

            “I need a bath. My skin is crawling and my hair’s filthy,” she moaned.

            He moved to her side and stroked her hair. “I’ll wash it for you in the morning, okay?”

            “If they’ll let you.”

            “Keh! I’m your mate. I can bathe you if I want. Let them try to stop me.”

            She gave him a soft smile that spoke volumes. Four hundred and fifty years they had been together; she knew him better than anyone, better than he knew himself, and she was giving him a look that told him she knew every thought that had ever passed through his brain.

            “I’d like to see them do it just for the entertainment value alone. I could use a good laugh at their expense right about now,” she commented.

            “Heh.”

            She offered him her hand and he took it, acting as a counter-balance as she rose to her feet.

            “Take me back to bed, my hanyou.”

            His ears twitched and he did his best to hold his tongue, but the evil streak in him won out because the opportunity was just too good to pass up.

_‘And I’m banking on her not ‘sitting’ me coz we’ve both been through hell today.’_

            “Kagome? Are you sure? I know you’re exhausted and that bed is awfully small. Still, if you really wanted to, I’m sure I could oblige you…”

            “You are 2 seconds away from eating floor,” she warned.

            He snickered. “Now, now, koishii, you didn’t honestly expect me to ignore that.”

            She sighed. “I guess not.”

            He escorted her to the bed and helped her get back into it. Then he used the controls to lower it into the sleeping position so she’d be comfortable, pulled the blanket up over her body and fluffed her pillows.

            “Bring me the baby,” she requested.

            He went to the bassinet and looked down at his pup.

            “Pup’s sleeping.”

            “S’ok, bring him anyway.”

            He nodded and carefully lifted his son into to his arms and brought him over to his mother.

            “Here,” he said, laying the still sleeping pup in her arms.

            She placed him on her chest, opening his blanket and putting his head right on her solar plexus.

            “This way he’ll hear my heartbeat,” she explained. “It’ll be familiar to him.”

            Inuyasha nodded and lifted the metal sidebar of the bed back into place, then he pulled the string on the over-the-bed light, setting the light to shine dimly towards the ceiling instead of directly on the bed. It made the room darker but still left some light in case Kagome needed it. Then he slowly climbed over the sidebar and prepared to ease himself in next to her.

            “Inuyasha? What are you doing?”

            “Getting into bed with you. What’s it look like I’m doing?”

            “You can’t. The bed’s too small.”

            “Your sleeping bag was smaller, but we always cuddled in that,” he reminded.

            She sighed and moved over, trying to make room for him to squeeze his lithe body between her and the side of the bed. He managed it but just barely. He lay on his side, his back wedged against the metal sidebar and his leg flung over one of hers. He slid one arm around her and drew her close.

            “That’s better,” he breathed, letting out a deep sigh as he snuggled up and buried his nose in her hair.

_‘She might think it’s filthy, but it smells wonderful.’_

            As always, her scent was a balm to his soul and all his pain and heartache faded away the moment she was in his arms.

            “Kagome…”

            Her fingers laced with his briefly then let go as he positioned his arm across her body such that he was holding her and cradling his pup at the same time.

            “Inuyasha.”

            “He’s perfect, isn’t he,” he whispered.

            “Yes,” she agreed.

            He nuzzled her and she turned her head to kiss him gently. He nibbled at her lower lip then butted her under the chin with his nose before licking her jaw.

            :Mate,: he barked softly.

            :Mate,: she answered.

            “I was scared,” he admitted, laying his head beside hers.

            “Me too.”

            “I think… I think that’s the closest we’ve ever come to…”

            “No. I think that time you were run through was closer. If Kaede-obachan hadn’t been able to stop the bleeding, we both would have died,” she corrected.

            “Yeah, but that time I didn’t see anything. This time…”

            “Yeah,” she replied, her voice far away.

            “Do you remember it?” he asked.

            “The coma?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Not really. I… I don’t think I was there.”

            “You weren’t. What do you remember?”

            “Being cold and scared and lost. But then you came and found me, and I knew I would be okay because you’d keep me safe. What do you remember?”

            He was quiet for a moment, then replied, “Everything. I remember everything.”

             _‘The dark. The cold. Tenseiga. The big white light. And the souls… Haha-ue, Oyaji, and our lost pups…’_

            “What did you see?”

            “Nothing at first. I think I was like you: not there and lost, then Sesshoumaru must have given me Tenseiga because when I became aware it was in my hand. It was with me in the Between place.”

            “Sesshoumaru?”

            “Yeah. Both he and Rin were in the waiting room when I woke up. I had fallen on the floor and when I opened my eyes, both Tessaiga and Tenseiga were next to me.”

            “Tenseiga is not of the living world. That’s why Sesshoumaru could pass through the gates to the youkai graveyard when we couldn’t. It probably acted as a bridge,” she commented thoughtfully.

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “Once you became aware, then what did you see?”

            “Nothing at first, but I could feel and hear you, and I knew you were in trouble. So I followed the red cord that connects us and I found you floating in front of this huge swirling white light that was sucking everything into it, and all these souls were getting pulled into its center.”

            “You saw the doorway to the Other Side?”

            “I guess. I just knew I had to get you away from it or we’d never get back, so I grabbed you and used Tenseiga to keep us from getting sucked in.”

            “I remember that. I asked you to hold me…”

            “And I told you I’d hold you forever,” he finished, breathing into her hair.

            “Yes…”

            Her hand came up to lightly clasp his arm, squeezing lightly.

            “Thank you,” she breathed.

            “It’s true. I would have given you every last drop of my strength if it meant I could keep you with me.”

            “I know. I love you.”

            “I love you too, koishii.”

            They were quiet for a moment. Nestled on his mother’s chest, the pup burped softly and snuffled, but did not wake. Inuyasha stroked the short silver hair on the pup’s head and soothed him.

            :Sleep, pup,: he wuffed quietly.

            “You were right. It was a boy,” Kagome commented lightly.

            “Feh, ‘course I was. Have I ever called a pup wrong? I told you Tomo’d be a boy, and Miroku. I said he’d be a boy too.”

            She chuckled. “That makes you three for three.”

            “Four. I predicted Miroku and Sango’s second pup would be a girl,” he corrected.

            “True. I’d forgotten about that. It was so long ago…” she sighed wistfully.

            “Yeah.”

            “So much has happened since then. Sometimes it feels like a dream, like I’m sleeping and any moment I’ll wake up and I’ll be fifteen again and none of this will ever have happened.”

            He shuddered. “Don’t say that, Kagome. If that is true then it means we never met and you never freed me from my Seal and never loved me. And no matter what happens to us, I’d never wish that.”

            The hand on his arm squeezed reassuringly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Forgive me. I just meant that all of this seems so unreal. I mean, if you were a stranger and someone told you our story, what would you think?”

            “That they needed some serious drugs, or that they’d already done too many as it is,” he replied.

            She laughed softly. “Our lives: the product of a really bad Acid trip.”

            “Or a really good one. You never know. We could all be little specks of dust in some alien’s set of marbles,” he noted, tossing out a ‘Men in Black’ reference.

            “Thinking about stuff like that just makes my already pounding head hurt even more,” she groaned.

            “So don’t think about it. Just close your eyes and get some rest,” he chided.

            “Mmmm,” she agreed and grew quiet.

            Inuyasha looked at her peaceful face and smiled, his heart warm and happy in his chest.

_‘Kagome. To think I could have lost you… I almost did. If Akihiro and the others hadn’t given me that extra bit of power, I may not have had enough strength to hold you.’_

            The memory reminded him of something he needed to do.

            “Kagome? Are you sleeping?”

            “Hmmm?” came her muffled reply.

            “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

            Her eyes opened sleepily. “What is it, Inuyasha?”

            “When we were Between and I was holding you, I got some help.”

            “Help?”

            He paused, uncertain how she was going to react to his news. He knew her well enough to guess that she would be touched and comforted, and he didn’t think the message would hurt her.

            “Yeah… while we were there six souls came around us.”

            “Six souls?”

            “Yeah, they were these glowing balls of light. Y’know like the souls Kikyou’s Shinidama-chuu used to gather for her,” he explained.

            She nodded that she understood so he continued. “They… they were the souls of my parents and… and some of our pups,” he said carefully.

            Her eyes opened wide. “Your parents?”

            “Yeah. Oyaji said he was proud of me and Haha-ue wanted me to tell you that she’s glad you’re my mate.”

            Tears brimmed in her eyes and he saw her lick her bottom lip. “I’m glad. And the others?”

            He swallowed hard. “They were… they… they were ones we… lost.”

            “Lost?” she repeated, then he saw understanding come to her face and the tears that had threatened began to fall.

            “I saw Akihiro… and Hiei. And…”

            “Sai?”

            He nodded. “Sai. And… and Hiro.”

            “Hiro?”

            “Aki said… Akihiro said they were allowed to come across because they didn’t get a chance to say good-bye,” he replied, a lump forming in his throat.

            “Oh,” was all she said.

            “They… they wanted me to tell you that… that they love us and miss us, and that they’re waiting for us and we’ll all be together again someday.”

            She nodded and closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.

            “Hiro said he forgave me and thanked me for saving him from himself. He said…” He choked on the lump, forcing it down, and fought back his own tears. “He said that… that I made the right choice.”

            She opened her eyes again and reached up to stroke his face. “Oh, Inuyasha…”

            “And Sai… Sai wanted me to tell you that he wasn’t in any pain at… at the end.”

            She sobbed. “I’m… I’m so glad. I’m so glad it didn’t hurt. I was so worried that his last moments were painful. I knew you were quick, but I always feared…”

            “I know. Me too,” he admitted as he trembled and a single tear escaped one of his eyes.

            “Inuyasha...”

            He drew her closer and nuzzled into her hair, licking the salt of her tears from her skin.

            “They gave me their strength before they had to leave,” he told her. “I added it to mine and it was enough to keep you with me. They helped me hold you so you could heal.”

            “I’m grateful,” she whispered. “Thank you for telling me this.”

            “I promised Haha-ue I would.”

            She smiled through her tears. “You and your promises.”

            “I am a man of my word.”

            “I know. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

            “That and my good looks and charming disposition.”

            She snickered then grew quiet. The pup, reacting to his parents’ movements and voices, began to fuss a bit. Kagome hushed him and rubbed his back until he settled down again.

            “Well your good looks for certain. I’m not so sure about the disposition thing.”

            “Are you telling me I  ** _don’t_**  have a charming disposition?” he teased.

            “Well…”

            “Gonna tell me I’m rude, stubborn and impossible?”

            “All of the above.”

            He kissed her temple. “Yeah, but you love me anyway.”

            “Absolutely. You think I would have put up with you for so long if I  ** _didn’t_**  love you?” she countered with a wry smile.

            “Probably not. You would have strung me up by my toes a long time ago if you didn’t.”

            “Hmmm, strung you up, yes. By your toes? Hmmmm, probably not your toes,” she jibed, elbowing him lightly in the stomach.

            He growled softly and nibbled her earlobe. She sighed and pressed close as he held her. He couldn’t imagine not having her in his life, and not for the first time he was thankful for the spell that bound them together. He found comfort in the knowledge that he would never have to live without her. He knew that their pups fretted and worried, and were even frightened by that fact, but for him... he knew he’d rather die than lose her. He remembered all too well his mother’s quiet grief after the loss of his father. She had never spoken of it to him because he was just a little whelp, but he knew she had missed him. Her eyes would grow sad and her scent would change whenever he mentioned his father, and she’d get quiet, her answers soft and carefully worded.

             _‘And if Oyaji had been alive then Haha-ue would never have died,’_ he thought darkly.  _‘But at least they’re together now. They found each other on the Other Side.’_

            It pleased him to know that they would all be reunited someday. In that, none of them were ever really lost.

_‘When they came, I knew they were souls, but… but all of them looked alike. Shouldn’t the souls of the hanyous have been different from Haha-ue’s? And Oyaji’s was the same too, but he was a full youkai.’_

            “Kagome?”

            “Hmm, yes?”

            “There’s one other thing.”

            “Oh?”

            “When we were Between and Oyaji and the others came to see us…” He paused, trying to choose the right words.

            “Yes?”

            “They… they all looked the same,” he finally said.

            “Hmm? What do you mean?”

            “All of them… they were exactly the same. Even Haha-ue’s and Oyaji’s. They didn’t look any different from the others.”

            “And you think that they should have looked different,” she said leadingly.

            “Shouldn’t they have been? Haha-ue was human and Oyaji was a taiyoukai.”

            She nodded. “Ah. I understand.”

            He waited, knowing she would speak, but he felt the change in her and knew she was tapping into that special place where she kept all of her miko knowledge. Her face was thoughtful as if she were trying to find a way to explain in terms he would understand.

            “A wise man once said,” she began softly, her voice peaceful and sage. “That Creation’s greatest secret is that the Universe is made up of only one kind of energy, and that everything, at its very core, is exactly the same. Some people, those we consider very holy, either are born knowing this secret or realize it on their own, but the rest of us… we spend our entire mortal lives trying to rediscover that one Truth.

            “So… it doesn’t surprise me that all souls look the same, regardless of whether they had been youkai or human or hanyou in life, because they are the same. Everything, in its deepest being, is identical.”

_‘Identical. I knew she would know. She always knows things like that. Like Kikyou. Kikyou always knew the answers to the big questions.’_

            He looked at her, what little of her he could see with his head alongside hers and their bodies squeezed together in such a small space, and she met his gaze calmly, a soft smile on her lips.

            “Do you understand?” she asked gently.

            He nodded. “You and me, we’re the same.”

            Her smile widened. “Exactly. See the Great Secret of the Universe is now known to you.”

            “Keh,” he scoffed. “I already knew that. You and me, we’ve been the same since the day we met.”

            “Oh really?” she replied, one eyebrow raised.

            He smiled. “Yeah, we both decided to drive each other crazy for the rest of our lives.”

            She giggled and smiled back. “I’ll hound you to the end of your days.”

            “Promise?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Good.”

********

            Nurse Naomi walked down the silent hallway, noting for the fifth time that the door to room 314 was closed. Normally patient room doors were only closed when procedures were being performed or the patient was being examined. During all other times, patients were instructed to leave their doors open. This case, however, had obviously decided to ignore protocol.

            Normally her course of action would be simple: she’d open the door, explain hospital policy to the errant patient and step out, leaving the door open. But there were extraneous factors regarding this particular patient which made that decision unwise. The higher ups had been very clear that they provide the patient in 314 with exceptional care, and they were to give her practically anything she wanted, within reason and as long as it did not endanger her health. The staff grapevine whispered about a terrible mix-up down in maternity which was certain to have heads rolling (perhaps literally) and would probably get the hospital very seriously sued. She wasn’t sure exactly what had happened but she knew that 314 had been brought in from the ICU, and that the Hospital Administrator was practically bending over backwards to be helpful.

             _‘Probably trying to save his sorry ass,’_  she thought dourly.

            Then there were the rumors that both the Nishitaishou and Fushikenwa families were involved in the case, and no one wanted to get on the bad side of either of those two clans. The patient herself was listed on the roster as one Fushikenwa Kagome so she had no doubts that at least that part of the rumor was true. The part about a newborn being involved was also true because she knew an infant had been taken from the maternity ward. To the best of her knowledge, said infant was  ** _still_**  in the room- something else that was a severe breach of protocol. As a general rule, newborns were not allowed on the third floor.

             _‘Would serve them right if the kid caught something and died,_ ’ she thought irritably, but then felt horrible for it.

            She didn’t wish the baby any harm, and what happened certainly wasn’t the infant’s fault. She just hated rule-breakers and patients who thought they were above regulations.

             _‘Think just because they’re rich and powerful, they can do whatever they damn well please.’_

            She paused outside the closed door and frowned. Of course the third and most compelling reason to leave 314 alone was not the patient herself but her companion. “The Mate” as the ward staff called him, was a violent, overbearing, overprotective inu-hanyou who had terrorized the maternity ward nurse (or so the rumors said.) The Mate was more likely to tear your head off than talk to you, and woe betide you if you offended him. The ward staff knew The Mate from before. Nurse Katya was on duty the night 314 had been brought in for false labor about two months ago. The staff was  ** _still_**  talking about that night and what The Mate had put them through. And now The Mate was back and the whole floor was in a tizzy, because it looked like  ** _He_**  might be staying for more than one night this time and they just knew what they would be in store for then.

            She herself was not afraid of The Mate. She was an eagle-youkai after all and they were not easily intimidated. Still, she didn’t relish what was to come. She knew that eventually she would have to go into 314 because her job was to treat the patients in the ward, and 314 needed to have her blood pressure checked and her personal needs seen to, and she was supposed to make sure that the infant was secure.

            She looked at her watch.  _‘I’ll give it another 20 minutes. 322 needs to have her bandages changed. Then I’ll go in and take care of 314.’_

            Twenty minutes later, Nurse Naomi stood outside the closed patient room door again. She debated knocking before going in, and wondered if The Mate had locked the door. If he had, it was no big deal because she had a master key, but it would be one more thing to irritate her if it was locked. She decided not to knock. It was a hospital, after all, and it should be assumed that privacy was not assured.

             _‘I am confident. I have a right to be here. If he gives me any trouble, I’ll shred him,’_ she vowed to herself bravely.

            Opening the door, she walked in with her head high. She had anticipated that The Mate would greet her with a snarl, the way he had greeted the staff the last time they had been there. The nurses said he was territorial and gruff, and would hang over them every moment they were in the room, glaring and growling. Because of this, she was not expecting the scene she found.

            He was on the bed, which was another major no-no, but as she prepared to storm over and demand that he vacate immediately, she took a good look at them and thought the better of it. Both appeared to be asleep, or rather the three of them appeared to be asleep since closer inspection revealed that the infant was in the bed with them as well. She could see a tiny head peeking out from underneath a blue newborn’s blanket that had been draped across the mother’s body. The Mate was on his side, squeezed between the patient and the metal sidebar of the bed. The position couldn’t be comfortable but his face showed no signs of distress. He had one arm around his wife such that she was pressed against his body, and the infant was cradled by the curve of his elbow and braced by his forearm. His face relaxed in sleep, The Mate who had so terrorized the nursing staff looked peaceful and oddly innocent.

_‘They look so young…’_

            She lifted the patient’s records from the file holder on the wall by the door and flipped through it. Fushikenwa Kagome’s birth year was listed as 1982.

 _‘She’s only 18. And completely human. But The Mate is a hanyou. How can the infant be his? Hanyous are incapable of producing offspring.’_  She read further, her mouth turning down into a frown as she read the details of the patient’s ordeal.  _‘Full-blown eclampsia. Convulsions in the delivery room. Eclampsic coma for 16 hours. Kami-sama what a mess. It’s no wonder he’s so over-protective if this is the kind of luck she’s been having. Pregnancy and childbirth are hard enough when there aren’t any complications. If this was me, I know **my**  mate would be through the roof._

_‘And it doesn’t help that her doctor was an ignorant jerk. I always knew Hattori Taro was an incompetent idiot but I didn’t think he’d be this stupid. Now I know why the administrator is bending over backwards. This case screams malpractice lawsuit. And Hattori better pray to all 108 Kamis that they don’t come after him. This family isn’t the forgiving type.’_

            She brought the file with her and quietly approached the bed. From a closer vantage point, the scene looked even more touching. It was obvious that the two trusted each other and had great affection for each other. The patient was deeply asleep, her face slightly turned to face her mate and one hand was resting on his forearm. Her expression was one of complete peace and contentment.

             _‘She has no fear of him. Nor does she mind him being beside her. He might be an ungodly terror to everyone else, but she trusts him completely with herself and with the baby,’_ she thought, realizing that while The Mate might be territorial and aggressive, he loved as well, and this deep love was the source of all his protectiveness.

She took the digital blood pressure monitor she had in her hand and prepared to use one of the patient’s fingers to measure her BP. She had just carefully lifted the index finger of the hand that rested on The Mate’s arm when he moved faster than she thought possible. With a growl and a snarl of warning, he grabbed her wrist in a vice grip.

            “What are you doing?” he demanded, his golden eyes glittering in the dim light.

            Her first instinct was to yank her hand away and run because he had just scared the liver out of her, but she realized that pulling back would probably trigger even more protective instincts so she froze instead. If he was just waking, then chances were he was acting on a primal level and wasn’t fully conscious yet. He had probably smelled her unfamiliar scent, sensed movement nearby, and reacted to the potential threat. She should have made certain that he knew she was there and wasn’t an enemy before trying to touch the woman. She waited for him to completely wake up before answering him.

            “I’m taking your wife’s blood pressure,” she whispered.

            She saw his eyes narrow a bit as he took in her fingers around his mate’s index finger and the blood pressure monitor in her other hand.

            “Hmmph,” he replied and released her wrist.

            “Thank you.”

            “Feh.”

            She continued with her task as The Mate stretched a bit and then lifted and rolled himself out of the bed, going over the metal sidebar, with a flexibility and grace that made her envious. Even worse he did it without disturbing either his wife or the sleeping newborn. Landing on nearly silent feet, he padded over to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He returned a few moments later while she was measuring the patient’s temperature.

            “What was her blood pressure?” he asked softly.

            “130 over 85.”

            He sighed. “Still too high.”

            “Yes, but it’s coming down,” she assured him as she marked the readings on the chart.

            The Mate nodded and moved to the side of the bed opposite her.

            “Has she been to the bathroom?” she asked.

            “Yeah. Got herself all cleaned up and changed. She put the thing you had on her into the bathroom trash.”

            She nodded, making a note of the facts in the patient’s records. “How long ago was this?”

            “What time is it now?”

            She looked at her watch. “4:30am.”

            “Hmmm. It’s been about 3½ hours.”

            “I should check to see if she needs her pad changed.”

            She heard him sniff and saw him shake his head.

            “Not yet. Let her be.”

            She recognized the warning in his voice and decided not to push the issue. Besides, inu noses were far superior to hers and if he didn’t believe she needed to be changed, then she probably didn’t.

            “I need to check the newborn,” she said.

            “Pup’s fine. He’s sleeping.”

            “I still need to take his vitals. Technically he isn’t supposed to be out of the nursery yet,” she countered.

            “Feh. Pups belong with their mothers. It’s the best place for them.”

            “No one will argue that with you, however when birth was traumatic and difficult, isn’t it best to make sure nothing went wrong?”

            He barked a short mirthless laugh. “Nothing went wrong? Everything went wrong, woman. Fucking asshole baboon,” he replied, but gently pulled back the blue blanket so she could inspect the infant.

            She blinked at the baby and did a double-take. At first she thought it was a youkai child, but knew that wasn’t possible because the mother was human. The baby had pointed ears like a youkai but his flesh was soft and pink like a human’s, and he didn’t have the half-transformed look of a hanyou. She couldn’t imagine what the baby’s father could have been, even moreso since she doubted The Mate would enjoy his wife carrying another male’s child.

             _‘What is this?’_  she wondered.

            “Oi, is something wrong with my son?” The Mate demanded.

            She shook her head. “No, not at all.” ‘ _His son? But how can that be? He’s a hanyou.’_

            “If nothing is wrong why are you looking at him like that?”

            “I’m just…”  _‘How do I say this? Well, all new fathers love to have their kids complimented.’_ “I’m just admiring how beautiful he looks. He’s so adorable.”

            As she predicted, The Mate fluffed with pride and gave her a beaming smile.

            “Yeah, he is innit he? Just about perfect. I didn’t know what he would look like. I’m glad he got my eyes and hair but not my ears.”

             _‘So the child **is**  his. But how? Does the hospital administrator know this? He must! He has to know that a hanyou-human cross child has been born in his hospital. Has such a thing ever happened before?’_

            “He’s very cute.”

            The Mate looked down at his son and she was moved by the look of love on his face.

             _‘This is the violent over-protective jerk? He isn’t anything like I was expecting. I wonder what Nurse Katya did to get on his bad side,’_  she thought to herself.

            “He was our last try,” he told her. “We lost four before this one and he was the only embryo we had left. I promised Kagome we’d give it one more try but then no more. Dr. Maggiano thought the new drug she had would help her keep the pup inside long enough this time, and she was right.”

             _‘Embryo. Hmmm, that sounds like in vitro.’_ “He’s an in vitro baby then?”

            He gave her a tolerant look. “’Course he’s in vitro. I’m a hanyou. You think I’d be able to sire a pup without help?”

            She laughed nervously. “Well, actually I  ** _was_**  wondering about that.”

            “Heh,  ** _that_**  was the look you were giving him. Couldn’t figure him out, eh? Well, you’re looking at the first human-hanyou pup ever born alive.”

            He placed one hand on the tiny back and stroked the infant’s shoulders.

            “My son.”

            “This… this is quite amazing. I’m surprised the youkai media hasn’t shown up yet. This is wonderful news for all hanyous.”

            “Keh. Hospital promised to keep the wolves at bay until we knew the pup would live. I’m sure they’ll be banging on the door by tomorrow though. Pup’s strong and healthy.”

            She leaned over to check the infant’s vitals and concurred. “He certainly seems to be strong and healthy.”

            She also noticed that while the infant did not react to his father’s touch, he  ** _did_**  react to hers by waking up with a cry.

            “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake him. I thought I was touching him lightly enough.”

            “Feh, I think he got my nose. Or part of it at least. He probably smelled you and knew you weren’t familiar.”

            The cry of the baby woke the mother and the woman in the bed opened her eyes sleepily.

            “Nu…yasha?” she murmured.

            “It’s okay, Kagome. Pup’s fine.”

            The patient turned her head as one hand came down to stroke the newborn’s back.

            “Who?” she asked, laying eyes on her.

            “A nurse who came in to check on you.”

            “Time?”

            “Almost 5am.”

            “Mmm.”

            The touch of his mother didn’t settle the baby. Instead the fear-cry changed to a different cry that was louder and more insistent.

            “Keh. Pup’s hungry,” The Mate said.

            “Mmm,” the patient responded with a nod.

            “I’ll put the bed up so it’s easier for you,” The Mate offered, pressing the button on the controls to raise the head of the bed.

_‘He’s so solicitous and gentle with her. How could a male that Nurse Katya swears is a homicidal maniac be so tender and loving?’_

            “Are you done now?” The Mate’s voice asked her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

            “Hmm? Oh, yes. I’m finished.”

            “Pup needs changed. You could bring up some diapers. We use cloth ones. None of that plastic shit you put him in.”

            “I’ll put in a call for maternity to send some up.”

            “Thanks.”

            It was a clear dismissal and she took the hint. No sense in provoking him without cause.

            “Oi, breakfast still at eight?” he asked as she turned to leave.

            “Yes. Breakfast is still at eight.”

            “Good. Thanks. Did you hear that Kagome? When they bring in your tray, I’ll go get coffee and something for myself downstairs.”

            “Okay,” the patient replied.

            Nurse Naomi looked back one more time to see the patient bringing her newborn up to feed, and smiled softly. The Mate was standing beside her, all his attention focused on his wife and son as if they were the only two beings that mattered in the whole world.

 _‘And that’s exactly how it should be,’_  she thought with a small bit of envy. Too often she had seen mates ignore or neglect each other. In many ways, The Mate’s blatant devotion was endearing and a breath of fresh air.

            She closed the door behind her on her way out.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter Forty-Six

            When Kagome woke again it was to the sound of the meal carts delivering the morning’s breakfast. At some point the room door had been cracked open and left slightly ajar so she could hear the activity going on in the hall. Coming to full consciousness, she registered that her baby was tucked against her breastbone and that Inuyasha had not gotten back into bed with her. Instead, he had placed two chairs facing each other, lowered her bed to their level and took down the metal sidebar. Then he had stretched his body out onto the chairs but rested his head on the mattress, very close to her own head. A quick look revealed that his eyes were closed and he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Smiling, she reached up one hand and scratched his ear. He flicked it under her touch and let out a little sigh. A moment later one golden eye cracked open and he looked at her.

            “Morning,” she greeted.

            He smiled and yawned. “Morning.”

            “I have to go to the bathroom. Can you take the baby?”

            Inuyasha nodded and sat up, reaching over to pick up their son. Even though it had been years since he had handled an infant, she was pleased to see that he had lost none of his talent with them. Their son barely stirred as he was lifted and cradled in his father’s arms.

            Slowly getting out of bed, she was glad that she seemed much steadier and stronger this morning. The events of the previous 36 hours had left her weak and shaky, but it looked like she was recovering fairly well.

            “Do you need help? I can put him in the little rolling bed,” her mate offered.

            Smiling at him, she shook her head. “No, it’s okay.”

            “Okay.”

            She shuffled over to the bathroom, noticing how odd it seemed to her not to be carrying so much extra weight around. She was sure she had lost at least half of the 11kg she had gained during her pregnancy when she gave birth, and she felt significantly lighter.

 _‘And look. I can see my feet again…’_  she mused, looking down.  _‘Hmm, my ankles are still a bit swollen.’_

            Kagome closed the bathroom door behind her and performed her morning toilet, using washrags and adult wipes to clean up and refresh her body. She was still bleeding heavily, but that was to be expected so she wasn’t concerned. She used the toiletries she had packed in her bag to brush her hair, wash her face and brush her teeth, promising herself a full bath complete with shampoo later that day.

_‘Inuyasha promised to help me.’_

            The sound of her baby’s morning cry brought her out of the bathroom and she settled back on the bed as Inuyasha handed her the infant and she opened her nightgown to feed him.

            “How are you feeling?” he asked her.

            “Much better.”

            “I’m glad,” he said, smiling at her as he gave her a kiss and went to do his own freshening in the bathroom while she nursed their son.

            He was back a few minutes later and sat beside her while the baby finished up.

            “Does he need to be changed?” she questioned.

            He took a sniff and nodded. “Yeah.”

            “You know what that means.”

            “What?”

            “You’re on diaper duty because I’m not up to changing him.”

            He flattened his ears and whined, trying to look pitiful but she wasn’t moved.

            “Soulful puppy-dog eyes won’t save you, sorry. Besides it won’t be that bad. He should only have piddled.

            He sighed and gave up. “Alright.”

            “Oh, you’re so abused,” she teased.

            “Damn right I am,” he grumbled.

            She giggled and burped their son before handing him to his father. Inuyasha changed him quickly and dumped the dirty diaper into the soiled linens can then gave him back to her for cuddling.

            “He really is perfect,” she commented.

            “Feh. Our own little beet-faced piglet.”

            “O-su-wa->” she said slowly, making him lower his ears and head with each syllable. She stopped at the last bit and gave him a wink so he’d know she was teasing. He sighed with relief.

            “Knock, knock,” came a too-cheerful voice as a dietician’s assistant brought in a breakfast tray. “Breakfast.”

            “Good morning,” she greeted as the young tanuki-hanyou entered.

            “Good morning,” the aide replied, putting the tray down on her rolling bedside table.

            Inuyasha glared at the newcomer but Kagome ignored him.

            “What culinary delicacy do we have this morning?”

            The aide lifted the lid on the plate and read the printed meal slip. “Scrambled egg, white rice, miso, fruit cup and decaf coffee.”

            “But I ordered quiche,” she complained innocently.

            The aide did a double-take, then cast a frightened glance at Inuyasha who glared even more and lifted one lip to bare a fang.

            “I’m joking,” she hurried to assure the poor girl who was looking more and more frightened with each passing second.

            “Of course,” the aide stammered, laughing nervously. “I must go. I have other trays to deliver.”

            She bowed and skittered out. Kagome turned to her mate and thwapped him over the head with her spoon.

            “Ow! What was that for?!”

            “For being rude and scaring that poor girl.”

            “Oi! I have an image to protect! I was too nice to the nurse last night. The staff will think I’ve gone soft and then they’ll think they can order me around.”

            She rolled her eyes.

            “Weren’t you going to get coffee for yourself once they served breakfast?” she reminded.

            He looked stricken. “Trying to get rid of me?”

            She rubbed his ears and kissed him. “Never, but I know how you are without coffee.”

            “Impossible?”

            “You’re always impossible. You’re just incorrigible without coffee,” she replied, mixing cream and sugar into her own decaf before taking a tentative sip. She grimaced. “While you’re at it, you can get me a cup of real coffee. I’m not sure what this is, but it isn’t coffee.”

            “Heh. I don’t think the doc wants you to have caffeine,” he commented.

            “That’s fine. This stuff is horrible even by decaf standards.”

            He leaned over and kissed her. “All right. Do you want the pup in the basket?”

            She looked down to see that the baby was dozing off.  _‘All they do is eat and sleep at this age. That and soil their diapers.’_

            “That would be fine. It would give me two hands to eat with.”

            “Okay.”

            Inuyasha carefully lifted their son and placed him in the bassinet. Then he returned to her side and gave her another kiss.

            “I’m going down to the cafeteria. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

            “Don’t terrorize anyone on your way down.”

            “Keh, wench, you ruin all my fun.”

            “I still love you.”

            He sighed and kissed her a third time. “I’ll never stop loving you. I’ll be back soon.”

            “I know.”

            “All you want is decaf?”

            She looked at the tray of food and crinkled her lip. “Bring me back a muffin.”

            “Muffin and decaf. Okay.”

            She nodded and he left the room, closing the door behind him. A minute later, while she was trying to figure out if her egg was really an egg or some strange pseudo-food made from plastic and food coloring, there was a plink on her window.

_‘Huh?’_

            She turned her head just in time to see a pebble plink against the glass, followed by a third a few moments later.

_‘What the?’_

            Pushing the tray away, she eased herself out of bed and over to the window to open it. She had just slid back the glass when Yukio’s head popped over the sill, scaring the life out of her.

            “Morning!” her eldest enthused happily.

            “Eeeeppp!” she squeaked. “What are you doing?!”

            “Sneaking in before visiting hours. What’s it look like we’re doing?” he replied, hopping into the room. He was dressed in jeans and a simple green T-shirt.

            “We?”

            “Yeah. Miroku’s with me, but he’s still down there coz he’s got the food.”

            “I see.”

            As she watched, Yukio took a thin rope from around his shoulder and dropped one end out the window.

            “Should I play the theme for Mission Impossible?” she suggested.

            “Heh. We’ve got this all worked out,” he answered, flashing her a grin as he pulled up a bucket full of food and coffee. The bucket was shortly followed by her second inu-hanyou son.

            “Good morning, Okaa-san,” Miroku greeted, pulling himself over the sill.

            “Good morning. Giving up your boring career in education for a job in international espionage?”

            Miroku shook his head and wiped his hands on his jeans. “No. This idea was all Aniki’s.”

            “Oh like I had to twist your arm or anything,” Yukio groused back as he closed the window to keep the draft off the pup.

            “I’m gonna go wash my hands. I haven’t climbed a building in decades,” Miroku said, heading for the bathroom.

            “Because you might get dust poisoning,” Yukio teased.

            “Hey, I’m not gonna hold the pup with dirty hands,” Miroku answered, closing the bathroom door.

            “He has done nothing but rave about holding the pup ever since he woke up, but be warned he has a massive hangover,” Yukio told her as he took the food out of the bucket and arranged it on the rolling tray. The breakfast that had been brought to her by the staff was quickly relegated to the bedside table. “I brought you your favorite: miso and some shumai, and a short cinnamon latte.”

            She frowned even as the delicious aromas filled her nostrils. “I’m not supposed to have caffeine.”

            “Izayoi warned me so I got decaf.”

            “Bless you,” she sighed gratefully, easing herself back onto the bed as he wheeled the tray in front of her and tucked the blanket over her feet.

            “You’re welcome, Okaa-san.”

            “So, Miroku has a hangover?”

            He sat on the end of the bed and picked up his own danish. “Yeah. We went out to the bar near the house after we left here and stayed there until Last Call. I told Miroku to take 4 aspirin with a glass of orange juice before he went to bed, but he didn’t listen to me.”

            “You went out drinking? Your father isn’t going to be happy about that.”

            Yukio shrugged and took a bite of his pastry.

            “Please do not talk about me so loudly,” Miroku complained as he came out of the bathroom. He paused to coo at the sleeping pup but did not disturb him, then slumped down into one of the chairs by the bed. “Coffee,” he demanded, holding out a hand.

            Yukio handed him a tall insulated travel mug.

            “Headache, sweetheart?” Kagome asked innocently.

            Miroku opened the mug and took a deep drink. “Yeah. First I get only 4 hours of sleep before Aniki is dragging me out of bed to come see you, then he gets this harebrained idea to sneak in through the window. I didn’t even get a shower this morning.”

            “Oh you poor baby.”

            Miroku sniffed and took another drink.

            “So who all went on this little bender?” she questioned, popping a piece of shumai in her mouth.

            “Me, Miroku, Mariko, Eri and Mama-baachan. Tetsu wanted to come too but Izayoi convinced him it would be safer for him to get drunk at home,” Yukio replied.

            “My  ** _mother_**  went with you?” she gasped.

            Yukio nodded vigorously. “I was surprised too, but she drank just as much as the rest of us.”

            “Did Mariko drink?”

            “She had one wine cooler. Then she switched to decaf. She was there mostly to make sure the rest of us got back safely. She and Eri crashed at Tokyo House last night. So did Izayoi and Tetsu. They figured there was no sense in going home to Yokohama if they were just going to turn around and come back today.”

            “I can understand that,” she agreed, taking a sip of her latte. “Mmmm, this is delicious. Thank you.”

            “Where is Otou-san? I have coffee and ramen for him.”

            “He went down to the cafeteria to get breakfast.”

            “ ** _He_**  is back. And did I hear you have ramen?” Inuyasha announced from the doorway. He was carrying a tray with two paper coffee cups and a couple of donuts.

            Yukio picked up a sealed container and showed it to his father. It was immediately pounced on as the donuts were forgotten.

            “I didn’t scent you in the hall,” Inuyasha commented, settling next to Yukio on the bed to eat.

            “We came in through the window,” Yukio replied.

            “What happened to my muffin?” she asked, pretending to be upset.

            Her mate looked contrite and sheepish. “They were all sold out of muffins, but see I brought you a jelly donut!” he replied, reaching over to the tray and holding up a sugar-laden pastry.

            “Thank god my sons brought me real food otherwise I would have starved this morning.”

            He flattened his ears and blinked sadly at her. This time Soulful Puppy-Dog eyes worked to earn her forgiveness and she smiled at him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. His ears came up and he went back to scarfing down his ramen and coffee while she ate more of her shumai.

            Inuyasha turned to Miroku, sniffing. “You reek of alcohol.”

            “Really? No kidding,” Miroku replied dourly.

            “Oi. Did you go out drinking?”

            “A whole bunch of them did. My mother included,” she defended.

            “Keh, I knew she drank. I remember the night I found her drinking sake in the dark. But I thought I had taught my pups to know better.”

            “Poor Miroku has a headache,” she admitted.

            “Really?” Inuyasha replied, then smacked the metal underside of the bed with Tessaiga’s sheath making a loud clang.

            “Hey!” Miroku complained.

            “Oops. Sorry, it slipped.”

            Miroku rubbed his temples and growled. Inuyasha responded by making Tessaiga’s sheath ‘slip’ again. Twice.

            “Whoops.”

            “Stop that!”

            “Inuyasha, you’ll wake the baby,” she scolded.

            As if on cue, the newborn began to make hiccupping noises in his bassinet. She glared at her mate, who lowered his ears and looked contrite.

            “I’ll get him,” Miroku offered.

            “Oi. You up to it?” Inuyasha questioned.

            “I’m fine,” he insisted and leaned over the bassinet to look at the infant. “Hey you. How you doing this morning? Do you know you’re a whole day old now?”

            Kagome saw him reach in to the bassinet to carefully pick up the pup and cradle him. She was very pleased to see that he took great care to support the baby’s head.

            “He shouldn’t be hungry or wet. He was just fed and changed twenty minutes ago,” she said.

            Miroku nodded and lightly rocked the baby, crooning softly under his breath. The infant settled down almost immediately.

            “Huh,” Inuyasha grunted with appreciation.

            “Hmm, looks like you’re a natural,” she commented.

            Miroku looked up at her and smiled.

            The next several minutes were devoted to eating. Kagome finished the breakfast brought to her by her sons and nibbled a bit at the one brought by the hospital staff, eating the fruit cup and rice but leaving the “egg” and “miso,” as if what they had brought her could have been considered actual food. Both were so bland that they were practically flavorless. She was all for a low sodium diet because of her blood pressure, but they were being a bit extreme.

            Her mate and sons ate along with her, consuming the pastries, ramen and coffee Yukio and Miroku had brought with them, then her sons stayed to watch the baby while Inuyasha walked her out to the bathing room for a bath. The hospital staff was shocked to see the two inu-hanyous in the room when they came to get the tray because no one had observed them coming in.

            Inuyasha was true to his word as always and muscled his way into the bathing room to help her shower and wash her hair. Luckily, it was so early in the morning shift that the nursing staff hadn’t begun giving baths yet so they weren’t met with too much resistance. Kagome was certain there would have been more of a scene if it had been just a little later.

            Showered, changed and feeling much more human, they returned to her room to find that Izayoi and Tetsu had arrived.

            “Good morning, Mama,” Tetsu greeted as he came up to her.

            “Good morning, sweetheart,” she replied, hugging him and scratching his back. He purred his little dragon purr and nuzzled his nose into the junction of her throat and chin happily.

            “You’re feeling better,” he said with a smile when he pulled back.

            She nodded. “I am. But I’m still tired.”

            “That’s to be expected,” Izayoi commented.

            “I know. But my blood pressure is down to 110 over 80 so I’m hoping to be released tomorrow morning,” she answered, getting back into bed.

            “That’s wonderful, Okaa-san,” Yukio said.

            “Yeah, I’m happy about it. I can’t wait to get out of this place.”

            “You should try to nap,” Inuyasha told her, arranging her blankets for her.

            “Yes, Mama. You need your rest. We don’t mind if you sleep,” Tetsu agreed.

            “It’ll be a while before Mariko and Eri get here, and we can’t start without them. Eri would kill us if we named this new pup without her,” Izayoi added.

            “Ah, the Ritual of Naming,” she mused. “How could I have forgotten?”

            “You didn’t. You just blocked it out,” Yukio teased.

            “It’s just an excuse to aggravate your father,” she answered.

            Yukio just giggled.

            The Ritual of Naming had become somewhat of a tradition in the family. It had begun with Yukio of course, on that day so very long ago when the rest of their companions had bombarded Inuyasha with potential names for their first pup, and it had since become a staple of new pup naming. Inuyasha always pretended to be irritated by the barrage of names, usually just picked for their entertainment value, but she knew that he enjoyed the game as much as the pups did. It was always worse with a son because he was traditionally in charge of the final decision, whereas she was the one who made the definitive choice for all the girls. She had no doubt that today’s ritual would be a free-for-all. Even Tetsu appeared to be looking forward to it, but that was probably because it would be his first.

            “Oi, you pups better watch it or I’ll pound you,” Inuyasha threatened.

            “Inuyasha, play nice,” she warned, but it had no heat because she had to yawn at that exact moment.

            “Feh. Go to sleep, wench.”

            “I shouldn’t leave you unchaperoned.”

            “Keh, we can take care of ourselves,” her mate insisted.

            “We’ll make sure he behaves himself,” Yukio promised.

            “And we’ll take care of the pup while you sleep so you won’t have to worry about him,” Miroku told her, still holding the newborn.

            “We’ll all find something to do. I brought a book of baby names to go through,” Izayoi said.

            “And I brought Otou-san’s portfolio like he wanted. I can go get it from the car,” Yukio added.

            “So don’t worry about entertaining us,” Tetsu assured her.

            “All right, all right. I can take a hint. Wake me if the baby starts to fuss.”

            “If he needs to be fed, we’ll wake you,” Izayoi promised.

            “Okay,” she agreed, looking at her family and smiling softly. “I love you all so much. I don’t have the words to tell you how much I love you and how important all of you are to me. I have been so blessed with such a wonderful mate and beautiful children.”

            They beamed at her and Inuyasha leaned over to kiss her tenderly.

            “And we have been blessed with you, Mama,” Tetsu answered, misty-eyed.

            “Yes, Okaa-san. We love you very much,” Izayoi confirmed.

            “We couldn’t have asked for a better Kaa-san,” Yukio said, his voice soft with emotion.

            “Rest, Okaa-san. We’re here and we’ll take care of everything,” Miroku added.

            She nodded and closed her eyes. The room got quiet and soon a heavy drowsiness settled over her. She knew her mate was there guarding her and she was surrounded by her beloved children. She was safe and secure, and nothing would harm her or her new baby.

            “Sleep, koiishi,” she heard Inuyasha whisper to her as he kissed her brow tenderly.

            She was asleep a few minutes later.

********

            Ayumi felt a little nervous as she followed Higurashi Mama through the sliding doors of Hirata Medical Center. When she had stopped by the shrine that morning to inquire how Kagome was doing, she was shocked to find out that her friend had not only given birth to a baby boy, but that there had been severe complications and that her friend had been comatose for 16 hours. As a result, she had readily accepted Mama’s invitation to join her, Souta and Jii-chan when they went to visit Kagome. The family cat came as well, hidden in Mama’s large handbag. But now, as she stepped through the doors, she was starting to have second thoughts. She had grown up believing the place was a simple clinic staffed by a couple of doctors and some nurses in a few rooms on the first floor. She could hardly believe the nondescript building was actually a full service, multi-story hospital that treated youkai and hanyous.

            Everyone she saw  ** _looked_**  human, but then Mama had told her that a spell had been cast on the hospital to make everyone look that way. In fact, she was relatively certain that everything she was seeing was an illusion of some kind. It had her jumping out of her skin because she didn’t know what was  ** _real_**. The feeling was very unnerving and she didn’t like it at all.

            “Mama-baachan,” came a voice behind them as they walked to the elevators and they turned to see two women coming towards them. One was the Polynesian woman who she had met before with Kagome when they had lunch in the park, but she did not recognize the tall, blonde woman beside her.

            “Ah, Eri,” Mama greeted.

            “Good morning. Jii-chan. Souta,” Eri said. “Are you just arriving?”

            “Hai,” Mama replied. “This is Ayumi. She is a friend of Kagome’s from school.”

            The woman, Eri, offered a hand in a Western-style handshake. “Hello, Ayumi.”

            “Hello, Eri-san,” she replied, adding the honorific for politeness and shaking the offered hand.

            “And this is Mariko, Ayumi,” Mama introduced.

            “Ayumi and I have met before Mama-baachan,” Mariko answered, offering her a smile. “It is good to see you again. I am sure my mother will be pleased to see your face.”

            She bowed nervously and nodded. “I hope so, Mariko-san.”

            Mariko smiled again as they all got into the elevator and went up to the third floor. The others went ahead but Mariko stayed beside her as they walked down the corridor to Kagome’s room.

            “Why are you afraid?” Mariko asked her.

            “I’m not… not really. Just… nervous. I know this is a youkai hospital. Mama told me so, but everyone looks human.”

            “That is the Spell of Normalcy at work. Only those who are Gifted or who have had the spell lifted from them will see through it.”

            “Spell of Normalcy? Is that the illusion spell?”

            “One of them, yes. This place has multiple spells on it.”

            They passed by a nurse in the hall who nodded to them as they walked by.

            “Is she a youkai?” she asked.

            Mariko nodded. “Yes. Nearly everyone you see will be youkai or of youkai blood.”

            “And that’s why I’m nervous. I can’t see what they really are. It’s all fake.”

            “And that frightens you.”

            “It unnerves me. I don’t like not knowing what’s real and what isn’t.”

            “That’s perfectly understandable.”

            “I know you have to do it to… to protect yourselves from being discovered, but…”

            “But it still makes you nervous.”

            “Yeah. Gomen. I don’t mean to be rude,” she apologized shyly.

            “It’s okay. I’m not offended.”

            They reached Kagome’s room and entered. Ayumi was shocked to see that it was full of people. She recognized Inuyasha only by his face because he had black hair and dark eyes, and his dog ears were gone. The other four people in the room were complete strangers to her. Three were Japanese men and one was a Japanese woman, or at least that was how the spell made them look. She knew from her conversations with Kagome over the past few weeks that all of her ‘children’ were adopted hanyous except for one full-blooded neko-youkai, so none of them really looked like the people she was seeing. They were all concealed in some shape or form, and she had no idea who was who or what was what except for Inuyasha, Kagome and the Higurashis.

            Kagome was in the bed holding a baby wrapped in blue. She was smiling at something that was being said as they came in, but all eyes turned towards them as they entered. She hid behind Mama and Mariko so she wouldn’t be seen right away, and peered out from behind Mama’s shoulder.

            “Ah and the mouse chaser has arrived,” one of the men enthused with a huge smile. “We can start now!”

            “Watch it, boot licker,” Eri snapped back, but somehow Ayumi knew she wasn’t really angry.

            “Ooo, Otou-san, I think she may be hung over. Hit the bottom of the bed with Tessaiga and make her ears ring,” the man teased.

            “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly fine. Unlike you wimpy  ** _dogs_** , I don’t get hung over.”

            “And the cat fight has already started,” one of the other men in the room joked.

            “Meee-oowwww. Hissssssss,” the third man added. This one did look somewhat familiar, although she couldn’t place where she had seen him before.

            “Okay, that’s enough,” Inuyasha scolded.

            Eri went up to her mother and kissed her. “Good morning, Mom.”

            “Good morning, Eri. Mariko. Mama. Jii-chan. Souta.”

            The family cat hopped out of Mama’s handbag and jumped up onto the bed with a mew.

            “Kirara!” Kagome exclaimed and hugged the cat with one arm.

_‘That’s odd. I thought the cat’s name was Buyo.’_

            “Oh! Ayumi-chan!” Kagome greeted, seeing her for the first time.

            “Hai,” she replied, feeling even more nervous as all eyes turned to her.

            “I’m so glad to see you. Everyone, this is Ayumi. She and I used to go to school together.”

            She bowed. “Hello everyone.”

            A chorus of hellos answered her.

            She went to stand next to the bed after Mama, Jii-chan and Souta had said their hellos and looked down at the baby who was sleeping in Kagome’s arms. Her friend looked tired but happy.

            “I stopped by the shrine to see how you were doing and Mama-san offered to let me come along to visit. I hope you don’t mind,” she explained.

            Kagome shook her head. “Oh no, Ayumi-chan. I don’t mind at all. Of all my school friends, you’re the only one who knows the truth. I’m very happy to see you.”

            “Mama-san told me what happened when you went into labor. I’m glad that you’re going to be all right.”

            “Me too. It was scary, but we survived.”

            “Barely, and with no thanks to that asshole doctor,” Inuyasha snorted.

            “Inuyasha. Language,” Kagome warned.

            She pointed to the infant. “May I see him?”

            Kagome beamed and turned the baby around so his little, sleeping face was visible to her. She couldn’t see what color his eyes were, but he had a mass of black hair and two human ears that made her wonder if he was concealed too.

            “Ooooh, Kagome, he’s so beautiful. He looks like you.”

            “He got my nose, but he has Inuyasha’s chin,” Kagome replied.

            “Have you decided on a name?”

            “Not yet. That’s what we’re going to do today.”

            “Oh.”

            She stepped back and took another look around the room. On the other side of the bed sat Inuyasha and one of the Japanese men. They had put chairs right next to the bed and there was a pile of large papers with what looked like architectural drawings on them spread on a rolling bed tray. Near them and seated closer to the window was the second man. Next to him was the woman, who was closest to the foot of the bed. Eri took the last chair in the room and sat directly at the foot of the bed. On the near side of the bed were herself, the remaining Japanese man, the one who looked slightly familiar, and the Higurashis, all of whom were still standing because there were no more open chairs in the room.

            Her nervousness returned and that seemed to draw unwanted attention towards her as a number of the occupants in the room looked her way. She wanted to disappear and escape the scrutiny because it was making her very uncomfortable, but when she moved to take a step back, she ran into Mariko who she had forgotten was directly behind her.

            “Would you like to see?” Mariko whispered in her ear.

            “Eh?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the Polynesian woman.

            “Would you like to See?”

            “You mean, lift the spell like you said?”

            Mariko nodded. “I’ll lift it if you think it will make you more at ease.”

            “Oh, yes, please.”

            “Are you sure? We don’t look anything like what you are expecting.”

            She nodded. “Hai. I know what Inuyasha looks like and he’s okay.”

            “All right then.”

            Mariko touched her forehead with one finger and a moment later everything seemed to shimmer before her eyes. Suddenly, the human hand that was touching her face became elongated and had grey claws instead of fingernails. It was also missing a finger.

_‘Four fingers…’_

            She looked up to see Mariko’s true form and gasped. Her nose and mouth were gone and replaced by a beak, and her hair had turned into teal colored feathers.

_‘She… she looks like a bird!’_

            Mariko chuckled. “I tried to warn you.”

            “H… hai, but it’s okay. Now I know.”

            She turned to look at the other occupants of the room. Only Kagome, Mama, Jii-chan and Souta remained the same. Inuyasha, of course, looked just as she remembered him, but three out of the five others looked very much like him with the same white hair and dog ears: two of the men and one of the women. The remaining woman, Eri, had flaming red hair, pointed ears and brilliant green eyes. She also had claws and a set of fangs, and looked almost feline.

_‘What was it one of them called her? Mouse chaser? Is she the neko?’_

            The last man had jet black hair and pale skin that didn’t look like human skin once it reached his neck. His face was narrow and his features were very sharp, almost hawk-ish or even reptilian, and his eyes were a vibrant violet that seemed to look right through her. Even the infant had changed and now had his father’s silver hair, and a pair of pointed ears where human ears should be instead of dog ones on top of his head. And the family cat had transformed from an obese calico to a sleek white cat with black paws, a black star on her forehead and two black-tipped tails.

_‘Wow? What is she?’_

            She turned to one of the men who looked like Inuyasha, the man whose human form had been familiar to her. He was standing very close to her, right next to Kagome’s bed.

            “Yukio-san?” she tried, hoping she was right.

            The room erupted into laughter as the man she had addressed blushed. The other man who looked like Inuyasha stood from where he was seated next to his adopted father and came over to her.

            “ ** _I’m_**  Yukio,” he said with a wide grin. “This…” He reached up and rubbed the blushing man on the head. “This is my otouto, Miroku.”

            “Otouto?” she repeated, then blushed herself and bowed deeply. “Oh forgive me. I thought… I knew Yukio as a baby and you looked a little familiar…”

            “You knew him as a baby?” Miroku asked excitedly. “Oh, can you tell me something good about him? Something really embarrassing?”

            “Hey!” Yukio complained and put his brother in a head-lock. “Why I oughta…”

            “That’s enough,” Inuyasha warned, but she just started to giggle at their antics.

 _‘They’re just like puppies tousling. I feel more at ease already,’_  she sighed to herself.

            Yukio immediately let Miroku go and returned to his place on the other side of the bed. Both of them were still smiling and chuckling.

            “Pssst, you can tell me later, okay?” Miroku whispered conspiratorially.

            “I heard that!” Yukio groused.

            She blushed further. “Oh, I don’t think I know anything like that.”

            “Anything will do. He’s always telling me about things I did as a little pup. I need some ammo for myself.”

            “I’ll… I’ll try to remember something.”

            “Great. So I look familiar?” he questioned hopefully.

She blinked at him and wondered if his expression meant what she thought it did.  _‘Is he… is he **flirting**  with me?’_

            “Hai,” she replied nervously. “When I saw you I thought I had seen you somewhere before.”

            “Hmmm, you don’t look familiar at all to me. Are you in college?”

            “Hai.”  _‘He **is**  flirting with me. What do I do? What would Kagome think?’_

            “Where do you go?”

            “I start at Meiji this semester.”  _‘I can’t not answer him. That would be so rude!’_

            “Hmmm. Never been over to Meiji, but I teach at University of Tokyo.”

            “University of Tokyo? My older sister goes there.”  _‘He **is**  kinda cute. And those ears are adorable...’_

            “Really? What does she study?”

            “Political Science,” she answered, casting a glance at Kagome. Her friend looked amused but not distressed or unhappy.  _‘She’s not upset so I guess it’s okay then…_ ’

            He nodded. “I teach history.”

            “My sister took Introduction to Historical Science last semester.”

            “What was her name?”

            “Kanesaka Maeko.”

            “Kanesaka... Kanesaka. I think I remember seeing that name on my student list.”

            She shook her head. “None of her professors were named Fushikenwa.”

            He waved a hand. “Oh I’m not using Fushikenwa right now. I’m using Kensaiga.”

            She gasped. “ ** _You’re_**  Sensei Kensaiga?”  _‘ **He’s**  the hot young professor my sister and all the girls in her class were gushing about?! Kami-sama! If only they knew!’_

            He grinned and she was certain he puffed out his chest a bit. “The very same.”

            “Then I  ** _have_**  seen you before. I used to meet my sister on campus for lunch right after your class. I knew you looked familiar.”  _‘She talked about you every day. She is going to be so jealous if you ask me out. Oh, I don’t care!’_

            “Wow. Small world, huh.”

            “Ahem!” an irritated voice interrupted.

            She turned to see Eri glaring at Miroku. “Not to interrupt your little mating display, but we have a pup to name and I’m on a schedule.”

            They both blushed furiously and Miroku sputtered a bit. “It’s not like that!”

            “Uh huh, sure it isn’t. Now I’m ready to get this party started so let’s do it.”

            “Meee-oooow. Hisssssssssss,” Yukio teased behind cupped hands.

            “Oh shut up,” Eri groused, then flipped open a small laptop she had been carrying in her bag. “I’ve already bookmarked BabyNameAddicts and BabyNames. Provided the satellite link-up doesn’t crap out on me, between the two I’ve got over 50,000 names to choose from.”

            “Not that you take this seriously or anything,” Yukio commented.

            “Hey, Tetsu came with his name and I missed Hitomi and Kitarou’s namings so I’m making up for lost opportunities.”

             “And to think there was a time when we actually named our own pups,” Inuyasha mused to Kagome.

            “I don’t think we ever did that,” she replied.

            “Am I interrupting? I can go...” Ayumi offered.  _‘I don’t want to intrude on a private family affair.’_

            “Oh no, it’s okay. We’re just going to decide what to name the new pup. It’s fine if you stay. It’s a lot of fun,” Miroku answered.

            “Kagome-chan?” she asked, looking at her friend in the bed.

            “It’s fine for you to stay Ayumi-chan. I don’t mind.”

            “I’ll get more chairs,” Miroku announced.

            “Okay,” Kagome said.

            Miroku left the room and returned a few minutes later carrying six chairs stacked on top of each other.

            ‘ _Wow. He’s strong,’_  she thought as she helped him distribute the chairs, blushing when he winked at her. ‘ _Okay, he’s cuter than Inuyasha. And he seems happier and less violent.’_

            “All right. Before we begin The Ritual of Naming are there any specific meanings or names you already have in mind?” the woman who looked like Inuyasha asked once they all had taken seats around the bed.

            Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other and then shook their heads.

            “No not really, Izayoi, but I was thinking the name should be special,” Kagome replied.

            “Keh! All our pups’ names are special,” Inuyasha corrected.

            “I meant, the name should mean ‘gift’ or ‘blessing’ or something like that, to honor how blessed we are to have him.”

            “Okay. Gift...” Eri said, typing on her laptop.

            “Shay,” the woman, Izayoi, offered, looking in a book she had in her lap. “It’s Gaelic. It means gift.”

            “Okay, so we open with ‘Shay.’ Votes for Shay?” Yukio announced very much like an auctioneer would do. It confused Ayumi to no end because she had been expecting a solemn service.

            “No,” Inuyasha answered.

            “Ok, no on Shay,” Yukio said.

            “Why?” Izayoi asked.

            “I never say yes to the first name. Besides I don’t like it.”

            “Okay, next?”

            “Tudor,” Eri said. “It’s Welsh. It means Divine Gift.”

            “It’s also a type of house. No.”

            “Ted?”

            “No.”

            “Hercules?”

            “No.”

            “Darin?”

            “No.”

            “Keitaro?”

            “Hmmm... maybe.”

            “Okay one maybe on Keitaro,” Yukio announced, writing it down.

             _‘What is this?’_ Ayumi wondered.

            “Look no more! I’ve got it!” Eri exclaimed.

            “Oh this is gonna be good,” Miroku smirked, giving Ayumi another wink. He’d taken the seat right next to her.

            “Barke,” Eri stated.

            “Barke?” Inuyasha repeated, one eyebrow raised. Kagome just snickered.

            “It’s African. It means Blessings.”

            “Just say the word, Otou-san and I’ll pitch her out the window,” Yukio replied.

            Both Inuyasha and Kagome took deep breaths and spoke in unison, “No.”

            “Phuc. It’s Vietnamese. It means Blessing too,” Eri countered.

            “Phuc? You want me to name my son Phuc.”

            “At least now we know why the Americans lost the war. They were too busy laughing,” the man with violet eyes commented.

            “Ooo! Good one Tetsu!” Miroku enthused, clapping.

             _‘This isn’t like any naming ritual I’ve ever heard about,’_  Ayumi thought to herself.

            “Are we in agreement that Phuc is a no?” Yukio asked.

            “Yes!”

            “Ionakana means God Gives in Hawaiian,” Mariko said.

            “Hmmm, that’s pretty,” Kagome replied.

            “Nothing with kana in it. Sounds too much like Kanna,” Inuyasha nixed.

            “Why not a Cree name? We live in Cree country in Alberta,” Yukio suggested.

            “Kaneonuskatew,” Izayoi responded, looking in her book. “It’s Cree for One who Walks on Four Claws.”

            “I make it a point never to name a pup something I can’t scream easily,” Inuyasha answered.

            “That was a mouthful,” Kagome agreed.

            “Yaholo. It means One Who Yells. Not sure of the tribe though. It doesn’t specify,” Izayoi said.

            “No, I do the yelling in this family.”

            “Don’t we know it!”

             _‘This... this is a game,’_  she suddenly realized as more names were tossed about and Inuyasha said no to all of them.  _‘Half of them are suggested just so he’ll say no.’_

            “Bono.”

            “No.”

            “Anoki,” she offered, just to put one out there.  _‘This is fun!’_

            “No,” Inuyasha answered, but he said it gently and gave her a nod.

            Miroku grinned at her and raised an eyebrow. She blushed and sat back to watch the free-for-all.

            “Rashid,” Izayoi said.

            “No.”

            “Dragon?”

            “Nice one Tetsu, but no.”

            “Connor.”

            “No.”

            “Caleb. It means Faithful,” Eri offered.

            “It also means dog,” Izayoi corrected, looking in her book.

            “No,” Inuyasha answered, glaring at Eri. She stuck her tongue out at him and smirked.

            “Gawonii,” Izayoi said.

            “What the hell is that?”

            “It’s Algonquin for He’s Speaking,” Izayoi answered.

            “No.”

            “Tamahere. It means the Loved Child,” Mariko suggested.

            “You’re all my loved children. No.”

             _‘Awww. That was so sweet,’_  Ayumi thought.

            “Kaemon,” Mama offered.

            “Oh that’s pretty Mama. Yukio mark Kaemon down,” Kagome replied.

            “Okay.”

            “Souta!” Souta exclaimed.

            “One of you is enough in this family. No.”

            “Awww,” the boy pouted.

            “No,” Inuyasha repeated firmly, but his eyes twinkled.

            Ayumi giggled.  _‘They’re really enjoying this, aren’t they.’_

            “Aiden,” Izayoi read from her book.

            “No.”

            “Spike.”

            “NO!”

            “Xerxes.”

            “How do you spell that? No, never mind. No.”

            “Asho.”

            “No.”

            “Barbod.”

            “No. Where are you getting these?”

            “They’re Persian,” Eri answered.

            “Like the  ** _cat?_** ”

            “Ummm...”

            ‘ _She just loves cat and dog jokes, but it looks like they’re used to it,_ ’ Ayumi mused.

            “Keiji,” Jii-chan suggested.

            “That was Great-Grandfather’s name, wasn’t it Jii-chan?”

            “Yes.”

            “Yukio put that one down.”

            “Okay.”

            “Donato.”

            “No.”

            “Rafael.”

            “No.”

            “Leonardo.”

            “No. Quit it with the Italian names.”

            “Nathan.”

            “No.”

            “Jasper.”

            “No.”

            “Makoto.”

            “No.”

            “Toshi.”

            “No.”

            “Dayshaun.”

            “No.”

            “Angus.”

            “Like the  ** _cattle?_** ” Inuyasha asked.

            “No. It’s Gaelic. It means unique strength,” Izayoi corrected.

            “It also means ‘steak’ to me. No.”

            “Bairn.”

            “No.”

            “Namid.”

            “No.”

            “Wicasa.”

            “No.”

            “Dakota. It means friend.”

            “Nice but no.”

            “Julian.”

            There was a pause and they all looked to Inuyasha who had a pensive expression on his face.

            “Is that a maybe on Julian?” Yukio asked.

            “I like it,” Kagome said.

            “No, but... But it gave me an idea.”

            “An idea? This could be dangerous,” Eri teased.

            “Shut up!”

            “Wait, wait. Let him speak. Otou-san what is your idea?” Yukio broke-in.

            “Well... When we first moved to Alberta and opened the Calgary office back in the 1920’s, one of the first men to apply for the construction crew was an Irish immigrant who had no education, no skills and nothing but the clothes on his back. But he was a hard worker and he didn’t mind working for a Jap as they called us back then.”

            “Still do in some places,” Miroku corrected.

            Inuyasha ignored him. “I took a chance on him and gave him a job because I’d started out with nothing too.”

            “I know who you’re talking about,” Yukio said.

            Kagome nodded as well.

            “His name was Ian O’Flagherty and he became the best foreman I’ve ever had. He helped me build our house in the highlands, and worked for me for almost sixty years. He was a reliable man and a good friend until the very end. He died five years ago.”

            Ayumi was positive she heard sadness in Inuyasha’s voice for the last bit and felt a pang in her heart. ‘ _I wonder if he’s had to watch a lot of friends die. That must be so hard. It’s good he has Kagome. She’ll live as long as he does like she told me.’_

            “I remember Ian well. He and his family always came to the company picnics. He had the cutest little boy, remember? I think he name was Stephen?” Kagome commented fondly.

            “Yeah,” Inuyasha confirmed. “And his wife always packed him these huge lunches so he’d have enough food to share with anyone in the crew who couldn’t afford to bring any.”

            “Until you started ordering catered lunch for all your men when you found out some of them were too proud to tell you they had no food,” Kagome reminded.

             _‘Wow, that was really nice of him,’_ Ayumi thought.

            “Yeah. I remember Ian was really touched by that. He always thought very highly of me and I always thought the world of him. He did great work when we built the house.”

            “Yes, he did. He laid all the tile in the bathrooms. The seals are still solid even after all these years,” Kagome agreed.

            “Yeah.”

            “Ian. It means God is Gracious,” Izayoi supplied helpfully.

            “Kagome, I want to name this pup Ian, in memory of him,” he said, looking at his wife with hopeful eyes.

            “I agree. It is a fitting name,” Kagome replied.

            “Any objections to Ian?” Yukio asked, looking around.

            The room was silent.

            “Ian it is,” he announced with a broad grin.

            Inuyasha reached over and took the baby, who had been sleeping throughout the whole ordeal, and presented him to those gathered in the room.

            “Ian. This pup’s name is Ian.”

            “Ian,” they all repeated.

            Ian took that moment to open a pair of huge golden eyes and wail at the top of his little lungs.

            “I still think we should have named him Yaholo,” Eri said, covering her ears.

            “Shut up!” Inuyasha yelled, proving that, in spite of his newborn son’s protests,  ** _he_**  still held that title in the family, and handed the crying infant to his mother for feeding. “Pup’s gonna have to howl a hell of a lot louder than that before he out does  ** _me_**.”

            “And this is something to be proud of?” Kagome teased back as Ian quieted down to eat.

            “Oi!”

            Everyone just laughed at Inuyasha’s expense, but he didn’t seem to really mind.

            “I should just pound all of you,” he threatened.

            “Still a hot-tempered, violent jerk,” Ayumi joked with an embarrassed smile.

            “Oh not you too! I’ve matured since then!”

            That only made the others laugh more. Beside her Miroku flashed her the ‘thumbs-up’ sign and smiled.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: In this chapter I describe a Shinto wedding ceremony. This ceremony is brief and full of solemn tradition. I have done a lot of research about this ceremony, the clothes and the ritual, and I hope I got it right. I ask forgiveness from anyone who knows better if I got something wrong. Because Kagome’s family is a Shrine family I have chosen to go with a conservative Shinto ceremony in which the nakodo (Matchmaker) plays a significant role, performing the purification and reading the marriage oath on behalf of the couple. This is not done as often in contemporary Shinto weddings anymore.  
> Kagome and Inuyasha also wear the traditional wedding kimonos for the ceremony.  
> Kagome’s wedding attire is the white Japanese wedding kimono called shiro-maku. The wedding kimono actually consists of two different kimono. The white wedding kimono is worn for the wedding ceremony and an elaborate rich patterned silk brocade kimono called uchikake is worn over the white kimono at the wedding reception. Some brides choose a white uchikake and wear it throughout the ceremony. The shiro-maku is worn with a formal obi. A woman's formal obi is usually 4 meters long and 60 centimeters in width. The width is folded in half and the obi is wrapped twice around the waist and then tied in the back, sometimes in a butterfly pattern.
> 
> The whole ensemble, even without the uchikake (which can add an additional 3 to 5kg to the outfit) is very heavy and constricting, and often the bride needs assistance walking. When worn properly there are 14 parts to the ensemble plus the tabi socks and white wedding sandals:
> 
> 1\. Hadajuban--Undershirt, 2. Susoyoke --Half slip, 3. Nagajuban(Juban)--Full-length under kimono, 4. Han eri --Half collar, 5. Eri shin--Half-collar lining, 6. Datejime--Under sash, 7. Koshi himo--Sash, 8.Obi. 9.Obi ita--Obi stay, 10. Obi makura--Obi-pad, 11. Obiage--Bustle sash, 12. Obijime--Obi cord, 13. Shiro-maku – White wedding kimono, 14. Uchikake – Heavy outer kimono worn without an obi  
> In a traditional Japanese wedding, the bride’s hair is also styled in the traditional hair style called bunkin-takashimada and adorned with beautiful gold combs and accessories called kanzashi. This can also take the form of an elaborate and very expensive wig. A white wedding hood called a tsuno kakushi is meant to hide two front golden "tsuno" or horns during the wedding ceremony to symbolize obedience. The bride carries a small purse style sack called hakoseko> tucked into her collar, a ceremonial fan and a small encased sword called kaiken.
> 
> Inuyasha is dressed in a formal Montsuki kimono which has been dyed black and stamped with his family crest in white and grey pinstriped hakama pants. He also wears a matching black haori that has been stamped with his family crest. He carries a fan for luck tucked into his obi and of course, Tessaiga is at his side.  
> As you can see Inuaysha’s wedding attire is considerably less elaborate and constricting than Kagome’s so he really has no reason to complain. Not that that stops him. :P  
> Other Japanese terms used in this chapter:  
> Torii- The wooden gateway that the top of the shrine stairs  
> Honden – Place of the god in the shrine, small building that houses the main deity of the shrine  
> Tamagushi – Offerings to the Kami, usually a sacred branch  
> San-San-Kudo – Ritual of three-three-nine wherein the couple being married exchanges sake cups three times  
> Chihaya - white long-sleeve top worn by a Shinto miko  
> Hibakama – Red wide trousers worn by a Shinto miko  
> Chichi-ue – Polite, formal term for ‘father’  
> Oyaji – Rude term for ‘father’

Chapter Forty-Seven

            The sakura blossoms were in full bloom and the April morning dawned sunny and clear. It was the perfect day for a wedding but it was lost on Inuyasha as he sat, fiddling nervously with the lapel of his black haori for the umpteenth time, while he waited for the clock to read three. Three was when he could go over to the shrine and wait for the ceremony to begin. Kagome was already there, changing into her wedding attire in her mother’s house. He had been forbidden from seeing the clothes his mate had chosen to wear, but Eri had told him it was the traditional white shiro-maku kimono.

             _‘Which means it will have too many layers and will probably weigh more than she does,’_  he thought.

            He didn’t like it. He hated ceremony. He hated wearing pompous clothes and having to worry about his manners. He was a simple man. He had wanted a simple wedding, but somewhere over the course of the past eight months his mate and her mother had hijacked his plan for a quiet, no-nonsense wedding and run off with it.

 _‘Whatever happened to her dream of a simple ceremony on a Hawaiian beach at sunset, surrounded by our pups? I would have gone with that,’_ he moaned to himself.

            “Awwww, Otou-san, you are looking miserable,” his eldest teased, making him stop staring at the errant clock that refused to move any faster.

            Yukio looked magnificent in his formal ceremonial garb. He’d chosen a kimono and hakama in royal purple with a matching haori, and looked like a perfect Nakodo, albeit a bit young. Kagome’s grandfather was their first choice to play the matchmaker role in the Shinto ceremony, but Kagome decided that the old man was better served standing in for her absent father. Yukio was chosen as the second choice, and in many ways he was the more appropriate of the two because the pup’s presence in their lives was directly responsible for him and Kagome furthering their relationship and becoming mates. He would never forget the look on his son’s face when they asked him to stand for them during the ceremony.

_‘Pup almost broke down in tears he was so touched and happy.’_

            “Bah! I’m not miserable. I’m just uncomfortable! This damn Montsuki kimono itches!” he complained.

            Yukio chuckled and straightened his obi. “The trouble you suffer for love.”

            “Keh! This whole thing’s a circus. I should have jumped at the chance to fly Kagome to Hawaii and get married in the Fern Grotto like she wanted when she was in her Elvis stage.”

            Yukio laughed again and shook his head. “Oh, Otou-san. It’s okay. I understand. I went through this with Miaka remember? And you’ve stood in as the father for all of the other pups’ weddings. You should be an old hand at this.”

            “Yeah, but I haven’t been the  ** _groom_**  in over 450 years,” he groused, scratching another itch on his chest.

            “Relax. You’ll never have to do this again. Focus on that and you’ll get through it.”

            He nodded. “What time is it?” he asked because he couldn’t see the clock through his son’s body.

            “2:42, 2 minutes after you looked the last time.”

            “I want to go now.”

            “You still have fifteen minutes before three.”

            “I don’t care. If I have to sit here in this monkey suit for another minute I’ll go insane.”

            Yukio looked him up and down. He knew what his pup was seeing: a formal black Montsuki kimono emblazoned with his family crest, matching black, emblazoned haori, and a pair of dark gray, pinstriped hakama pants with a formal white obi. The whole thing had three layers: a thin white kimono underneath it all, the Montsuki kimono and hakama pants and then the haori on top. He felt like he was practically suffocating in clothes. He’d adamantly refused to wear tabi socks or traditional Japanese sandals, opting instead for his black Birkenstocks.

            “All right, we’ll go. Being outside by Goshinboku might actually calm you down some. You’re wound up tighter than a coiled spring.”

            He stood up abruptly and headed for the doors. Yukio had to stop him to give him Tessaiga and his ceremonial fan, then they walked to the shrine together.

            “You owe me 5000 yen, dog-breath. Pay up,” Eri said to his pup, Miroku, as he and Yukio came through the Torii at the top of the shrine stairs.

            Inuyasha saw her slap the younger pup on the arm and put out her hand, palm up.

            “Huh?” he asked, confused.

            “I bet him that you wouldn’t be able to wait until three and here you are fifteen minutes early,” she explained.

            Never one to go with tradition, his full neko-youkai pup had forgone the formal kimono and dressed in another one of her famous self-designed outfits that made her renowned in the youkai world. The dress was a swirling dye of orange and red, just a shade or two lighter than her hair, and fell in multiple layers of fine raw silk. The fabric had been hand-stamped with the outlines of leaves and flowers in gold paint at odd intervals, the gold almost invisible against the colored silk until she turned. While the skirt was almost obscenely short in the front, the back reached down to her ankles, and the bodice clung nicely but not too tightly to her lean form. The whole effect was stunning and his daughter looked radiant in it.

             _‘Why couldn’t Kagome have worn something like that?’_  he wondered.

            Miroku glared at Yukio as he dug into his wallet. “You couldn’t keep him away for another fifteen minutes could you. I almost had her.”

            Yukio shrugged. “You know there’s no reasoning with him.”

            “Oh, Inuyasha-kun, you look so handsome!” Ayumi gushed as she came towards them.

            Ayumi  ** _was_**  dressed in a traditional kimono, but Inuyasha was not surprised. The girl had a taste for history, which was probably what made her such a good match for Miroku- so far. The two had really only been officially “seeing” each other for three months. Before that, they had just been occasionally meeting for lunch or coffee as their schedules permitted. But with the advent of the wedding, they’d started to spend much more time together and their relationship had blossomed. He and Kagome were trying to keep a hands-off policy when it came to them, but Ayumi often looked to Kagome for advice and guidance in the care and handling of an inu-hanyou.

            “Keh. I’m dressed up like a clown,” he countered.

            She reached over and straightened his collar. “No you’re not. You look wonderful. Kagome will cry tears of happiness when she sees you.”

            “She’d better not after all the work we did putting on her make-up,” Eri growled.

            Inuyasha sighed and shook his head, taking in the scene before him. The shrine had been decked in festive red and white, the colors of happiness. Red and white streamers decorated the buildings and Torii, and red and white paper lanterns had been hung for later use in the evening. The tables for the reception were draped in red cloth with white napkins and china, and each table had a large jar candle and a flower arrangement of orchids and star lilies. The raised platform where he and Kagome would be seated after their nuptials had been set with the wedding table and toasting glasses.

            All in all, he had to admit that it looked beautiful, but perhaps the most beautiful decoration of all was the sacred tree in full bloom. He stared at it, dumbstruck, as the magnificent flowered boughs waved softly in the breeze.

            “Goshinboku…” he breathed.

            Miroku smiled. “Yeah. Souta-ojichan said it started yesterday, but it’s in full glory today.”

            “Ohhhh.”

            He walked over to the sacred tree and laid his hands on the rough trunk. Looking up into the branches, several petals fell and drifted down to land on his face and hair, and it was as if the tree itself was blessing his union.

_‘Thank you, old friend.’_

            “Otou-san, are you all right?” Yukio asked him softly.

            He nodded. “Yeah. Where’s Ian?”

            “Miroku said he was with Izayoi.”

            “Is he behaving?” His 8-month old son was just beginning to talk, and the most interesting words were coming out of his mouth. Kagome blamed him, of course, even though he protested his innocence.

            “He didn’t say he wasn’t so my guess is he is.”

            He nodded again and looked up higher into the branches where one flower-laden bough high above him beckoned enticingly. Kicking off his sandals, he heard Yukio chuckle beside him just before he leapt up.

            Settling onto the branch, he looked out at the sprawling city of Tokyo with its multitudes of skyscrapers and millions of inhabitants. Some youkai and hanyous loved the hectic, crowded human world, but he had always preferred the open places, the forests and the endless seas of green. To be here had always made him feel trapped, and he missed his Alberta home more and more each day, but he knew he had agreed to stay in Tokyo until the wedding, and also until it was safe for Ian to fly. Some parents flew with their newborns anyway because doctors said it was okay to do so, but he was never one to take chances with his pups and he wasn’t about to start now. There wasn’t any reason for them not to wait until after the wedding to put Ian on a plane, and there were enough protection spells on Tokyo House to keep the pup safe from pollution and noise.

            “Not much longer before we can go home,” a voice beside him promised.

            He turned his head to see Yukio sitting one branch over, his back to the broad trunk.

             _‘Should have known the pup wouldn’t leave me alone. He’s not one to let me brood.’_

            He snorted. “Place stinks.”

            “I know. I miss home too.”

            Inuyasha blinked. They’d never really talked about what would happen when he and Kagome moved back to Alberta after the wedding. It had always been assumed that Yukio would move with them because he’d been living with them for the past forty years, but now he realized that he hadn’t asked his son what his plans were.

            “You’re coming with us then?”

            “Of course. I’m welcome, aren’t I?” Yukio replied.

            “Keh! You have to ask?”

            “I’m not sure. Many parents don’t want their grown pups living with them.”

            He shrugged. “It’s never been a problem for us. House is big enough.”

            “That’s for sure.”

            “Besides, you have more patience with the clients. If it’s someone I think I’ll want to kill by the end of the design meeting, I just send you.”

            Yukio laughed softly. “I’m your pinch architect.”

            “Feh. You’re as good as me; you just don’t want to admit it.”

            Yukio shrugged. “Surpassing you has never been a priority with me. I’m not even sure I could. Taking over as Alpha for the brief time you were comatose with Okaa-san after Ian was born taught me a lot about what it’s like to lead.”  
            “Feh. You did fine. Everyone’s told me so. You took over when you had to and made the hard decisions. That’s what it takes to be a good leader.”

            “Still, they’re awfully big shoes to fill.”

            He wiggled his toes. “I try very, very hard  ** _not_**  to wear shoes.”

            Yukio laughed. “I know. Me too.”

            “What time is it?”

            “2:50.”

            “Okay.”

            They grew quiet and he looked down at the shrine. Soon he would be able to go down and wait for Kagome, then they would both enter the honden through separate doors. The old man and her mother were standing for Kagome, and Sesshoumaru and Rin were standing for him. Aside from those four, Kagome and himself, only Yukio and Souta would be allowed into the Shinto ceremony, and Yukio would have been excluded if not for his role as Nakodo. Since the inner sanctum of the shrine was too small to fit all of their pups, they had decided not to play favorites and limited the witnesses to parental stand-ins and Souta. The officiant was a close friend of the old man’s who, surprisingly enough, turned out to be an Earth youkai, and two of his hanyou daughters were serving as the mikos for the ceremony.

            From his vantage point high in Goshinboku, Inuyasha could see the guests gathering and the preparations being made. It looked very hectic and he was glad to be out of it. If he wasn’t there, he couldn’t mess anything up and no one would get mad at him.

_‘I just want this to be over.’_

            “I will miss this tree though,” Yukio commented, breaking the silence.

            “Hmm?” he asked.

            “I have such fond memories of this tree while I was growing up. It’s an old friend.”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “I remember one night when I was human, you brought me up here and held me all night. I think I was about six years old then.”

            “Seven,” he corrected. He remembered that night too. There had been a lunar eclipse and Yukio had wanted to see it.        

            Yukio chuckled. “I thought you’d remember.”

            “Why wouldn’t I?”

            His son shrugged. “No reason.”

            “Keh!”

            “Some of my most vivid memories are of you on my human night; how you used to sit at the entrance of the house with Tessaiga across your lap, guarding me. Do you remember what I did the first New Moon after you gave me Kenshuga?” Yukio continued.

            He snorted to hide his smile. “You sat in the doorway of the house with the damn sword across your lap like a stupid pup.”

            “Like my  ** _Otou-san_**  who guarded  ** _me_**  when I was without my youki. And I was the  ** _good_**  son who protected my Otou-san when  ** _he_**  was without  ** _his_** ,” Yukio amended with a smile tugging at his lips.

            “Feh! As if I needed anyone to protect me.”

            “Oh no. Never. You’ve never gotten into trouble on your human night, ever.”

            “Keh!”

            “If I knew Okaa-san wouldn’t whack me upside my head, I’d kick you out of this tree.”

            “Go ahead, make my day,” he shot back.

            Yukio laughed out loud and shook his head.

            “What time is it?”

            “2:55.”

            He growled.

            “Poor Otou-san. So impatient.”

            “I just want to get out of this damn kimono.”

            “It itches. Yes, I know. Don’t worry. It’ll be over before you know it.”

            He saw Yukio touch the naked place on the ring finger of his left hand and stared at it. After forty years, there was no evidence that his son had ever worn a wedding band, but he’d seen Yukio touch the spot often enough to know that his pup still missed its presence there.

            As for himself, he’d secretly envied Yukio his little gold ring. For years he had wanted one of his own; a physical symbol of his union with his mate that the majority of the human population understood. It surprised him how many women thought they could take liberties with him because he lacked a wedding ring. Or thought he was being dishonorable when they saw him with Kagome when she was pregnant and they knew he was the father.

            Humans lacked the senses that youkai and hanyous used to claim their mates. To any youkai or hanyou, it was plainly obvious that he was mated and therefore unavailable because inu-youkai were strictly monogamous. No rings or other outward signs of mating were needed when scent alone broadcast his marital status. But humans, with their dull noses and dim eyes, couldn’t smell or see his claim on Kagome or hers on him. They needed their little rings to tell each other who was mated and who was not, and even then a ring was no guarantee that one would be protected from unwanted advances. Humans were not, by any stretch of the imagination, monogamous. Some claimed to be, and were true to one mate for their entire lives, but the vast majority of them had roving eyes and hands.

            Inuyasha couldn’t understand it. There was no one more beautiful, perfect or sexy than his mate. Even after 450 years, she could still light the fire in his loins the way no one else ever had, and he could not imagine being with anyone else. The very idea unsettled him, and some of his female clients’ more blatant advances had made him almost physically ill. He’d never been the touchy-feely type, and he still had difficulties expressing physical affection with his own pups. For a stranger, or near stranger, to become familiar with his body was something he wasn’t at all comfortable with, and if a wedding ring would keep them at bay, then he wanted it.

            There were other reasons for his wanting a ring as well. Men and women were proud of their rings. Kagome had gushed over the diamond engagement ring he had given her on their wedding anniversary two years ago. He’d known that the reunion with her family was coming up and that meant their wedding was soon to follow. Typical engagements lasted about a year, so he had given her the ¾ carat pear-shaped diamond at about the right time, give or take a month or two. If they had kept with the original date instead of pushing the wedding back almost a year, it would have been perfect.

            Kagome had worn the platinum banded ring constantly until pregnancy made her finger swell too much to keep it on, and she’d shown it to anyone who would look at it. Even though they’d been mated more than 400 years, somehow the ring brought a new sparkle to her eyes and it had nothing to do with the brilliance of the rock on her finger. Shortly thereafter they had gone shopping for the wedding bands and chosen two platinum rings. Hers was inset with twelve small round diamonds in a thin band and engraved on the inside with the date of their nuptials and the kanji symbol for aisai, beloved wife. His ring was a simple unadorned platinum band with two thin black ridges etched along the edges as its only decoration. It was flat and not too wide so it wouldn’t snag on anything or get in his way, and was engraved with the kanji for devotion, protection and fidelity on the inside of the band: all symbols of his love and commitment to her.

            Both rings had been waiting patiently in their little black velvet boxes for over eighteen months, and every now and then he’d take them out and try his on when no one was looking- just to make sure it still fit of course. The fact that his ring size hadn’t changed in 450 years was irrelevant, and he longed for the day when Kagome would put it on him and it could stay there for good.

            “Soon, Otou-san,” Yukio promised, and he looked up to see that his eldest had caught him staring at his ring finger.           

            He snorted and looked away to hide his blush.

            “I know how you feel. I think Miaka gave me my wedding ring as a joke after I said I wanted one. She never really understood the Western custom, and she took hers off years before she died. I didn’t take mine off until I buried it with her.”

            He nodded. “I remember. You put it in the casket before it was burned.”

            Yukio nodded as well and looked down at the gathering crowd. Sesshoumaru and Rin had arrived, both dressed in traditional Japanese ceremonial clothes. Sesshoumaru had even dragged his armor out of storage and dusted it off.

‘ _Pompous bastard,’_  he thought dourly as he watched Miroku introduce Ayumi to them.

            “They don’t understand what it’s like. Okaa-san does and Rin does. They know what it is like. But her, that little human Miroku has taken a shine to, she has no idea what it’s like to be the mate of an inu-youkai. Most of them have no concept of what it is like to be the object of someone’s complete devotion. Humans are always looking for the next best thing. For me Miaka was it. I never gave another female so much as a second glance once I was mated. I know she compared me to other males sometimes but she tried to hide it. I never thought anyone was better than her,” Yukio admitted sadly.

            “Do you think you’ll mate again?” he asked. His pup still had many years of life in him, and it made him sad to think that he might spend them alone with no mate by his side.

            “I don’t know. Uncle told me there’s an inu-youkai clan from Scotland who are interested in an alliance through marriage. They’ve got a daughter who’s about my age, give or take a few decades. He wants to arrange a meeting and see if we’re compatible,” his son answered.

            “Full-blood or hanyou?”

            “Full-blood.”

            “Hmph, why ask you? Sesshoumaru’s youngest is unmated.”

            Yukio shrugged. “My guess is Uncle already asked him but he either said no or someone in the Scottish clan disapproved. Uncle’s pups are a little…”

            “Ruthless?” he offered.

            “I was going to say distant but ruthless works.”

            He nodded.

            “It’s three. Are you ready?” Yukio questioned.

             _‘Finally!’_  “Keh! I’ve  ** _been_**  ready. Let’s get this circus over with.”

            He didn’t wait for his son to answer before he leapt out of the tree and landed at the base of the massive trunk. Putting his Birkenstocks back on, he tromped up to Sesshoumaru and presented himself.

            “Oi.”

            His brother turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. “Ah.”

            It was all the greeting that passed between them. Rin, however, was more demonstrative. She reached over to give him a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek.

            “You look wonderful,” she assured him.

            “Feh. I feel ridiculous.”

            “Hmph. You always rejected tradition,” Sesshoumaru commented.

            “Oi. At least I didn’t go with the tradition of ‘claiming’ my mate while the rest of the pack howled around us,” he snorted.

            “Oh, that can be fun. In the right setting of course,” Rin replied with a twinkle in her eye that made him shiver./p>

‘ _Everyone thinks she’s sweet and innocent, but she’s been mated to Sesshoumaru for over 400 years. She can be as scary as he is.’_

            “Rin,” his brother admonished softly.

            “Well, never mind that, dear. Are you ready?”

            “Keh. Of course,” he replied.

            “Let’s go then, shall we?”

            “Where is your Nakodo?” Sesshoumaru asked.

            “I’m right here,” Yukio replied, joining them.

            “Ah! Yukio, you look so handsome,” Rin exclaimed with a huge smile.

            Inuyasha saw his son bow too and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from snorting.

            “Uncle, Aunt Rin. I am happy you agreed to stand for my father.”

            “It’s an honor,” Rin answered.

            “Let us go,” Sesshoumaru ordered, not waiting for them.

            “Feh,” he spat, but followed.

            The guests gathered to watch them pass. Everyone was dressed in their finest, with quite a few multi-colored traditional kimonos mixed in with Western dresses and suits. They were mostly made up of his pups and their mates, plus Shippou and his brood, numerous high-ranking individuals from the youkai world, some business associates and benefactors of the shrine (all under the Spell of Normalcy), friends of the family and some school friends of Kagome’s (also under the Spell.) Miroku’s little human wench was the only non-family human who wasn’t under it, and he blamed that on Mariko.

            They stepped up to the small building which housed the honden and waited at the open door. Peering into the inner sanctum, Inuyasha saw that the floor had been covered with rice paper and tables were set up on each side of the room for the family members. There were three seats and place settings for Kagome’s mother, the old man and Souta at the table on the far side of the room, and two seats and place settings for Sesshoumaru and Rin at the table closest to him. At the front of the room was the marriage table with two seats for him and Kagome and set with the tamagushi offerings for the god after the ceremony and the three cups for the san-san-kudo. There was a separate seat closer to his family table that had been set out for the Nakodo.

            The Earth youkai and his two hanyou daughters were already there dressed in full ceremonial garb. His heart twinged at the sight of the two miko’s dressed in their white chihayas and red hibakamas, but he tamped it down immediately. Today was for the future, not the past. A few moments later, the priest and his daughters exited out the far door and he knew that the procession was about to begin. Yukio led the way into the honden and stood beside him as they waited for the bride to arrive. Sesshoumaru and Rin stood by their places at the table nearest to him. Outside he heard the drum and flute of the marriage procession making their way from the house.

            The first person he saw was the old man, dressed in a formal kimono, hakama and haori combination in austere black. Beside him was Kagome’s mother dressed in a formal kimono that had flowers on a black background and a huge floral patterned obi. Her hair was up in a traditional bun and she carried a ceremonial fan. The fan reminded him of his own and he looked around for it frantically until Yukio tapped him on the arm with it and gave him an amused smirk. He sneered and snatched the fan from his son, ignoring his snicker. Behind the ‘parents of the bride’ came Souta, looking about as uncomfortable as he felt in his formal clothes.

            Once the families were in, they took their places at the tables set for them but did not sit. Standing in the doorway were the two mikos, blocking his view of Kagome whom he knew was directly behind them. Then they parted and his bride was revealed as she entered the honden to the sound of gentle flute music.

            Many grooms are awestruck the moment they see their wives-to-be all decked out in their bridal splendor. Some have been known to fall to their knees or even weep. Others gasp or are stunned speechless. However, Inuyasha had no doubts in his mind that very, very few bridegrooms felt the way he did upon seeing his bride for the first time.

            He was absolutely shocked.

            The woman coming towards him was not his mate. She was a poor imitation of Kagome and bore only a token resemblance to the woman he loved. She was swathed in a huge white shiro-maku kimono that reached the floor and a wide white formal obi with the traditional fan and ceremonial knife tucked into it. It was so big and heavy, she could barely walk and one of the mikos had to hold her hand to keep her from losing her balance. On her head was a monstrous black-haired wig piled high with beads, tortoise shells, ribbons and pearls wrapped with a wide band of white silk around her brow that served as the tsuno kakushi meant to hide her horns. Her face was painted white and her lips a garish red so she looked like a doll and not a living, breathing human female, and the paint tainted her scent so much that he almost sneezed from the stink of it. She was wrapped so tightly that her fingers had begun to swell, and he could see her struggling to remain upright under the weight of her clothes.

            This was not his Kagome. His Kagome was unfettered and free, and she smelled of wildflowers and her own unique, gentle scent. Her hair was a wild cascade of silken black, her skin rosy and flushed with life, not pale as death. She moved with an easy grace, light on her feet as if walking on air, not stiff and staggering. This Kagome was a mockery of the headstrong, vibrant, beautiful woman he loved, and he cursed the Japanese tradition of insisting their women fit an ideal that had no bearing on reality.

            “Kami-sama…” Yukio breathed beside him and he cast a glance at his son to see if the younger inu-hanyou was similarly affected. The pup looked traumatized, as if he didn’t recognize Kagome either.

             _‘Holy fuck is more like it. Where did she get that thing? Please tell me I won’t be getting a bill for that sometime soon.’_

            He desperately wanted to run over and strip her out of the suffocating clothes, scrub her face to reveal her natural beauty, and throw the wig to Kirara for shredding, but instead he tried to force a smile and look happy for Kagome’s sake because he knew this day was extremely important for both of them. The miko walked Kagome up to him as the priest entered and stood at the altar. She looked at him, her eyes brimmed with tears and smiled softly.

            “Inuyasha,” she whispered.

            “Kagome,” he answered, taking her hand in his as they turned to face the priest.  _‘Even her hand is painted white…’_  Her hand was too warm and showed signs of discoloration.  _‘There is no way I’m going to be able to get a ring on her finger with her hand in this condition.’_

            Still holding her hand and subtly supporting her, he guided her to stand before the nuptial table for the priest to begin the ritual of purification for all present. He beat the taiko drum to wake up the spirits and begin the purification as the rest of the witnesses took their seats. Yukio was handed the sacred tree made of paper streamers and he performed the act of ‘sweeping’ away the evil spirits with the branch. Inuyasha smiled to himself when he saw the fine tremors in his son’s movements as he nervously fulfilled his duties as Nakodo.

            Once purified, they approached the altar, bowed twice, clapped twice and bowed again to honor the god. Then they returned to their seats while the priest chanted prayers to Kami to bless them and accept their petition for marriage. The priest then offered food and drink to the Kami as an offering.

            The next step would be for Yukio to make the vow of obedience and fidelity on their behalf, but before his son could speak, he stood and bowed to the priest.

            “I wish to request a change in ceremony,” he said, still bowing respectfully.

            There was silence for a moment then he spoke again. “I wish to postpone the exchange of rings until after the ceremony so that we may speak our vows before all of our guests.”

             _‘There. It doesn’t tell them that I don’t want to say my vows to a China doll that looks like my wife and sounds perfectly reasonable,’_  he thought to himself, even as he cringed and expected Kagome’s wrath to descend upon him at any moment.

            There was another moment of silence then the priest replied, “Are there any among us who object to this change in ceremony?”

            The room was quiet and he ventured a glance at Kagome. He was surprised to see that she looked… relieved and offered him a reassuring smile. He smiled back and straightened up.

_‘Looks like I did good.’_

            “If none object so be it. The exchange of rings will occur after this ceremony is completed,” the priest announced, giving a nod to Yukio to continue.

            One of the mikos gave Yukio a sacred scroll and he read the oath of marriage for them, his voice quaking only a very little bit as he pledged their intent to be faithful and obedient to each other. Then he sat down in the chair that had been provided for him, and the mikos began the san-san-kudo.

             _‘Pick up the cup and give it to her. Let her drink. Take the cup back, drink three sips. Rinse and repeat,’_  he reminded himself.

            He picked up the first small lacquered cup and the miko filled it with sake. He handed it to Kagome who accepted it with the tips of her fingers and drank from the cup in three small sips. She gave it back to him and he drank from the same cup with three small sips, the sake burning its way down his throat. He hated sake.

            The first cup was set aside and the second, slightly larger cup, was filled with sake. Kagome picked it up and handed it to him. He drank in three sips and gave it to her to finish with her three sips. Then the third, and largest, cup was filled and handed to him, and they repeated the ritual of three a third time to finish the rite of three-three-nine that symbolized luck and happiness.

            San-san-kudo completed, they stood in unison to offer the tamagushi to the Kami at the altar. He helped her stand, supporting her under her arm as they walked around the table and faced the altar. He placed the sacred branch before the God then he and Kagome bowed twice, clapped twice and bowed again. The witnesses then bowed and clapped as well. The mikos poured sake into the cups of the witnesses and the two families drank in unison, making the pledge that they were now all relatives as their two families joined.

            The mikos then announced the end of the ceremony, congratulated them on their new marriage, played music, and the wedding was over.

             _‘And that’s it. We’re married,’_ he thought.  _‘We can now get out of these clothes!’_

            Putting out a hand to help Kagome, they turned and faced the witnesses, and were immediately blinded by the flashing of cameras.

            “Argh!” he complained, squeezing his eyes shut.

            “Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!” the old man exclaimed.

            Kagome’s mother and the mikos came forward and draped a brilliantly dyed and patterned formal uchikake over Kagome’s shiro-maku and removed the tsuno kakushi from her head. The uchikake was a deep red and had been decorated with cranes, flowers and nature patterns in gold, white and black. It pooled around her on the floor for about half a meter and he could see her bending under the weight of the heavily brocaded outer kimono. He watched as his mother-in-law fastened the obi-less kimono with practiced ease and made sure the whole thing draped properly.

_‘Oh great. **More**  clothes. Are you people trying to crush my wife?’_

            “Congratulations,” the priest said, coming over to them.

            “Err, thanks. Thanks for doing this ceremony for us too,” he replied, casting a concerned glance to his wife who was starting to sweat, small beads of perspiration darkening the white make-up she wore.

            “Yes, thank you very much. It means a great deal to us,” Kagome added, with a small hint of her normal self. Her voice was faint however, probably because she was finding it hard to breathe.

            The priest bowed. “It was an honor.”

            “We still need to exchange our wedding rings, but we will do that after we’ve changed,” he said, his hand discreetly under Kagome’s elbow to support her. She was leaning on him rather heavily.

            “How about we set up a little nuptial table in front of Goshinboku?” she suggested.

            “Excellent idea Kagome,” her mother agreed. “I’ll see to it after I help you change.”

            “Bah woman. I’ll help her,” he insisted.

            “We can’t change right away, Inuyasha, we have to present ourselves to our guests,” Kagome argued.

            “Most of them are our pups and they’ll understand.”

            “Still. I want to present ourselves to our guests. And I want pictures,” she repeated through gritted teeth.

            He lowered his ears and submitted. “Okay. But only for a minute!”  _‘You spend any more time in that huge thing and you’ll collapse! Won’t that be fun if you keel over right in front of all our pups and guests!’_

            She nodded.

            Taking her by the arm, they walked together out the door Kagome had entered through and exited the honden. They moved slowly because the uchikake was long all around and she was trying not to trip over it.

             _‘Forces her to take small, dainty steps otherwise she’ll fall flat on her face,’_  he realized darkly.

            A paper umbrella had been set up for them to stand under so they took their positions and waved as the guests cheered and more cameras flashed.

_‘I’m going to be permanently blind by the end of the day.’_

            They stood for a few minutes, posing for formal pictures and Inuyasha tried to drag the last dregs of his patience out of a very empty barrel.

            :Pup. Help, pup. Help Alpha-female,: he barked softly to his eldest when the photographer refused to back off and his concern for Kagome grew.

            “Pup help,: Yukio replied, then whispered, “I promise, I’ll keep the speech quick. Then you cut off the guests of honor and announce the ring ceremony. Okay?”

            He nodded.

            “What are you two up to?” Kagome hissed.

            “Nothing.”

            “Don’t ‘nothing’ me. I heard you whispering and you asked him for help.”

            “He’s promised to keep his speech short so we can change.”

            “I’m fine, Inuyasha.”

            “Sure you are, that’s why you’re holding onto me for dear life.”

            She didn’t reply and he knew that she wasn’t about to argue with him.

            “I just don’t want to be disappointed. I went through the trouble of getting into this kimono and I want to have my pictures,” she admitted softly.

            “And you will have your pictures. They’ve already taken dozens.”

            “You hate it, don’t you. I can tell.”

            He didn’t reply, but merely mustered a small smile as the photographer took a picture of them with their witnesses: Sesshoumaru and Rin at his side and Kagome’s family next to her.

            Finally, after about fifteen minutes and hundreds of pictures later, Yukio cut off the photographer and stood beside them to greet the gathered crowd, performing his last duty as Nakodo.

            “I know that traditionally the Nakodo gives a long speech about the couple’s educational and occupational backgrounds but in this case, I think I will forgo that tradition,” Yukio began. “This family, despite what you may think, has never been one to keep with tradition, and my father certainly does not hold it in very high esteem.

            “What can I tell you about these two individuals who stand here before you? I can tell you that my father had nothing to offer my mother except the clothes on his back, a rusty sword and a life of hardship. I can tell you that she accepted those offerings with love and devotion and helped him build the fortune he has today. I can tell you that I have never seen two individuals more devoted to each other and to their family than my parents, and I modeled my own marriage after theirs. I am honored to stand as their matchmaker because apparently I brought them closer together. Being as I was a little pup at the time, I don’t really remember much about it, but I’m willing to take their word for it.

            “I really have nothing more to say except that I am so happy for you both. I love you both, and I hope that you will continue to be together in love and joy for as long as you both shall live. Everyone, I give you Fushikenwa Inuyasha and Kagome.”

            Yukio finished with a tender smile and a kiss to his mother’s cheek. “I love you, Okaa-san.”

            Kagome, whose make-up had already begun to run, lost her fight with her tears and they rolled down her cheeks.

            “I love you too, sweetheart.”    

            The crowd cheered and he stepped up to speak, effectively cutting off any further speeches.

            “Kagome and I are going to go change. After that, we will do the exchange of wedding rings in front of Goshinboku. I know this breaks with tradition, but as my eldest said, I’ve never been one to go with that. I’m sure my pup Eri has entertainment planned for while we’re gone so, ummm, you’ll be entertained. We’ll be back.”

            With that, he grabbed Kagome by the arm and practically dragged her to her mother’s house, ignoring the cheers and laughter from his pups who knew him all too well.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter Forty-Eight

            Once inside the house and in the living room, he pulled off the heavy uchikake and began working on the obi of the shiro-maku.

            “Inuyasha! Inuyasha, be careful! This was my grandmother’s. My mother wore this when she married my father,” Kagome admonished when he pulled a little too roughly.

            “I don’t care. Get it off,” he ordered, trying not to rip the silk with his claws.

            “It took me almost an hour to get into this thing. You’re not going to get me out of it in two minutes.”

            “Watch me.”

            He brandished his claws and heard her gasp.

            “Inuyasha! Osuwari!”

            “Gah!” he yelled as he hit the floor. “What the hell did you do that for?!”

            “You’re going to damage it! God, I want out of this thing just as much as you do but this is a family treasure and I don’t want it ruined!”

            “Here,” his daughter Izayoi said as she came breezing in. “I’ll help..”

            “Oi, I thought you were watching Ian? Where is he?” he demanded.

            “I gave him to Mariko when I saw you come in here. Mama-bachan is busy with setting up a table in front of Goshinboku, and I knew you would need help getting out of these heavy clothes. He’s sleeping right now, but he’s been an angel all day. I’m so proud of him,” Izayoi replied as she began helping her mother out of the formal kimono. “Don’t worry, Okaa-san. These are much easier to get out of than into.”

            “Thank god for that,” Kagome sighed.

            Picking himself up off the floor, he went to work on the gargantuan wig, helping her pull out the hundreds of hairpins that held the damn thing in place.

            “Where did you get this? Please tell me this is another ‘family treasure’ and you didn’t actually pay money for this.”

            “It is. Jii-chan dragged it out of storage,” she told him.

            “Oh good. How many of these damn pins are there?” he complained.

            “Hundreds. I swear Eri used three full packages of hairpins. It weighs a ton. I have such a headache from keeping my head bowed.”

            “Don’t worry. I’ll have it off you soon. And I thought I was drowning in my clothes!”

            “You look wonderful, by the way. So did Yukio. He was so nervous. I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing,” she complimented with a tender smile.

            “Keh, me too.”

            “I’m almost done, Okaa-san, I promise,” Izayoi announced just as he managed to get the last of the hairpins out of the wig.

            The wig came off at almost the same time as the shiro-maku fell open and his daughter carefully removed it from his wife’s slender shoulders as he lifted the wig from her head. Kagome relaxed with a visible sigh as the heavy garment and headpiece were taken off.

            “I feel human again.”

            There were more layers to the formal kimono, but the largest pieces were gone and now she was clad only in the thin underclothes and the tabi socks.

            “There. Now you can wash your face and hands,” he blurted.

            She looked at him and seemed sad. “Was it so bad?” she asked.

            He flushed and looked away, refusing to answer.

            “I’m sorry. I was worried that you would be upset with the make-up. I let Jii-chan convince me that it was tradition and I’d promised him a traditional Shinto wedding.”

             _‘How do I say that it made her look dead without her getting mad at me?’_  “It… it made you look too pale. And… and it altered your scent.”

            “So that’s why Yukio was scrunching up his nose like that. I’m sorry, I never should have let Jii-chan talk me into it.”

            “No, it’s okay, I know it meant a lot to the old man.”

            “But it’s  ** _our_**  day, not his,” she insisted, holding his hand. He was relieved to feel that the swelling had already started to go down. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll go upstairs and change into my other dress. Izayoi, can you help me?”

            “Hai, Okaa-san.”

            “I’m going to change too,” he told her.

            She nodded. “Miroku brought your suits over earlier. They’re hanging in Souta’s bedroom. Yukio’s is up there too if he wants to change.”

            “Okay. Thanks.”  _‘At least the tux will be more comfortable than this get-up.’_

            He followed his wife and daughter up the stairs and veered off to enter the boy’s room when they went into the bathroom. He found the tuxedo hanging on the door of Souta’s closet and quickly began peeling off his ceremonial clothes. Yukio came in a minute later just as he was fastening the black cummerbund around his waist.

            “Okaa-san is changing?”

            “Yeah. Finally. I thought for certain she was going to pass out,” he answered.

            “I was worried about that too. I can’t believe she wore the whole ensemble. Most women don’t wear the uchikake anymore because it’s too heavy.”

            He shrugged. “Shrine family. The old man is stuck on tradition. Kagome promised him a Shinto wedding and he went for the whole thing.”

            Yukio sighed. “Yeah.”

            “You gonna change?” he asked, indicating the Armani suit hanging next to where his had been.

            “I think so.”

            “Okay. You still have the rings, right?”

            Yukio patted the chest of his kimono. “Right here. I wouldn’t lose them.”

            “Good.”

            The rustle of fabric moving past the door indicated that Kagome had exited the bathroom and was going to change into her dress. He didn’t know what the second dress looked like but he knew the third was an “Eri-original” in blue silk. He hoped that she would skip the interim dress and move straight to the blue one, but somehow he doubted that she would. He finished changing then waited for his son to finish before they both headed downstairs.

            Walking back out to the shrine, he took note that the caterers were getting ready to serve the meal and that the cake had been set-up and was ready for the cutting ceremony. He inspected the nuptial table that had been placed in front of Goshinboku while Yukio went to get a drink. It was a small table, draped in red and white and set with two tapers, a unity candle and a third longer taper made for lighting multiple candles.

            “Eri suggested that we combine the exchange of rings with the luminary ceremony,” his mother-in-law told him as she came up to them.

            He nodded in understanding. “That was a good idea.”

            “Is Kagome all right?”

            “Yeah.”

            “I’m glad. I was concerned towards the end. She was looking very unsteady on her feet.”

            “Once we got her out of that heavy thing, she was better. The swelling in her hands was going down too.”

            “So that’s why you wanted to postpone the ring ceremony. Kagome’s fingers were swollen.”

            “Yeah.”  _‘I’ll let her think that. It’s just easier.’_

            “I’m glad you insisted on her changing then. She was beautiful though, ne? A perfect Japanese bride,” she asked, her eyes misty.

            He grunted in a way that he hoped was noncommittal enough to be taken as agreement.  _‘Yeah, if you like your brides to look dead and be wrapped up so tight they can’t walk or breathe. If I’d wanted a dead mate, I’d have chosen Kikyou.’_

            She wiped a tear from her eye. “I’ve waited so long to see my daughter married. I’m so happy.” She smiled at him. “And I am happy she has married someone who will take care of her and worship her for as long as she lives.”

            ‘ _I’ve been living in Canada for too long. Even **I** think this culture is full of chauvinistic pigs!’_ “Bah, Kagome can take care of herself. She is brave and strong and an excellent doctor.”

            “Oh yes, yes, of course, but now she has you to keep her happy and safe.”

            “She’s had me to keep her happy and safe for 450 years.” ‘ _You now expect her to become the ‘silent’ Japanese wife, don’t you? How can any man crush his mate’s spirit like that? For us a wedding ring is a symbol of love, faith and trust, but for many women it’s a chain.’_

            “Otou-san,” Mariko called, coming over to them.

            She was holding Ian who beamed at him the moment he saw him. The pup was dressed in a little purple hakama and kimono ensemble.

            “Tou!” the eight-month-old burbled.

            He smiled at his son and rubbed his head. “How’s my pup?”

            “Bad. He told Tuskareta-san to, and I quote, ‘piss off,’” his daughter replied.

            He chuckled. “I’d forgive him. Tuskareta is a pompous ass.”

            Mariko sighed. “I know, but Okaa-san will be very unhappy when she hears about it.”

            “Then why don’t we decide that she won’t hear about it until after the honeymoon, okay?”

            She laughed. “I’ll try but I can’t promise anything. How is Okaa-san? She was looking very…”

            “Pale? Stressed?”  _‘Dead?’_

            “Yes.”

            “She’s fine. She’s changing into her second dress. She’ll be out soon.”

            Mariko smiled and nodded. “I’m glad.”

            “How are the guests doing?”

            “They are enjoying the harpist and the taiko drummers very much.”

            “Good. Good.”

            “Yes, they are very good. Eri has excellent taste,” his mother-in-law agreed.

            Mariko nodded. “She does. Anytime there is an event to be planned we let her handle everything.”

            “How are the humans doing?” he questioned, eyeing two of Kagome’s school friends as they tittered by with Miroku’s girl on their way towards the house.

            “They are doing fine. I modified the Spell of Normalcy to cover speeches too, so they only hear what we want them to hear,” she assured him.

            “Good.”

            Yukio joined them humming the opening bars of the “Wedding March.”

            “I hate that song,” he complained.

            “Okaa-san is ready.”

            He swallowed. “Okay. What am I supposed to do?”

            “She wants you to meet her at the edge of the shrine and the two of you will walk together to the table.”

            “Okay.”

            He followed Yukio to the edge of the shrine grounds and waited. They were joined by the priest and the two mikos. The priest handed Yukio a huge folded paper umbrella.

            “What’s that for?” he asked.

            “The procession,” Yukio replied innocently, implying that he was to hold the opened umbrella over their heads as they walked, signifying that they were lovers.

            “Ah.”  _‘More ceremony. Great. Why can’t we just hold hands and walk up to the tree like normal people?’_

The shoji of the house slid back and two of Kagome’s human friends came out, dressed in festive kimonos. Then the old man and Souta came out as well.

             _‘When did they go inside?’_  he wondered.

            The girls lined up on either side of the open doorway as Kagome stepped out of the genkan. She was dressed in a Western style wedding dress that was simple but elegant. It was white satin with short sleeves and a pretty neckline. The gown went down to the ground but it didn’t have anything that dragged behind it, and there was a little bit of beading on the skirt and bodice, but not too much. The best part was the neckline low was enough to show the blue necklace made from beads strung on his hair that she still had and wore almost constantly since the day he had given it to her.

            Her hair had been piled into a bun with a band of flowers that lined the edge where it met her head and a simple veil trailed behind it to her waist. Plain white satin gloves came up to her elbows and she held a very simple bouquet of roses and white orchids.

             _‘Now this is more like it!’_  he thought with a smile as she came towards him.

            “Wow,” Yukio breathed beside him.

            He nodded in agreement.

            She gave him a shy smile and flushed with happiness when she saw that he approved.

            “Kagome,” he whispered.  _‘My mate is so beautiful.’_

            “Inuyasha,” she answered, offering her hand to him.

            He took it and stood beside her. Then the priest and the two mikos took the front position, one holding a flute and the other a taiko drum. Kagome’s mother and the old man took the second position, followed by Ayumi and the other two school friends of Kagome’s. He and Kagome came next with Yukio directly behind them, holding the opened paper umbrella over their heads. The mikos played music as the procession set off across the shrine grounds to the sacred tree. They stopped at the nuptial table where the mikos took positions on either side, and the priest stood behind it with his back towards Goshinboku. The rest of the procession split to the sides as well, leaving the area in front of the table open for him and Kagome. They stood and faced the priest, who performed a quick purification of them and the table.

            “These two wish to exchange the gift of nuptial rings before their gathered guests,” he announced as the crowd came to witness the ceremony. “Who has the rings?”

            Yukio made a brief show of patting his pockets before producing the two black velvet boxes. Inuyasha snatched them from him with a scowl and handed them to the priest, ignoring the chuckles from some of his pups. The priest blessed the rings and placed them on the table with the lids open so he could see which was which. Kagome handed her bouquet and gloves to Ayumi and they turned to face each other. Carefully, he took Kagome’s platinum ring out of its box and held it in-between his fingers.

             _‘Okay, this is it.’_  He swallowed hard and recalled the vows he had memorized just for this moment.

            “Kagome. My love. My mate. You are everything that makes me complete. I know that I have never been worthy of you, yet you have stayed with me through all of our hardships and successes. You have remained true, raised our pups and stood beside me no matter what I chose to do. That you would still choose me to be your mate after all these years is the greatest gift you could ever give to me. I promise you what I have always promised you: To love you and honor you. To share my life and all I own with you. I give you my fidelity, my protection and my undying devotion for as long as we both shall live.” She offered him her hand, her eyes brimmed with tears, and he took it gently. “Kagome, do you consent to be my wife? To love me and honor me, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for as long as we both shall live?”

            With a small sob, she nodded. “I do.”

            He slid the ring onto her finger slowly. “With this ring, I take you as my wife.”

            Still wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, she held up her hand to look at the band on her finger, then she took the diamond engagement ring from her right hand where she must have put it earlier, and placed it on her ring finger next to her wedding band.

            Reaching down to the table, she picked up his ring and held it in her fingers.

            “Inuyasha. I am, and have always been, your loving, faithful wife. I will hold you, and keep you, and accept no other but you. I will love you with all of my heart and half of my soul. I will honor you and raise your pups, and stand beside you for as long as we both shall live.” She took his hand, ignoring the fact that it shook slightly. “Inuyasha, do you consent to be my husband? To love me and honor me, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for as long as we both shall live?”

            He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I do.”

            She slid the ring slowly onto his finger and it was a perfect fit. “With this ring, I take you for my husband.”

            He looked at his ring, finally on his finger, then back at her, his heart filled to bursting with love and joy. This was what a wedding was all about. This peace and adoration and feeling of completion. It wasn’t about the clothes or the gifts or the number of times you clapped at the altar. It was about two people pledging to love, honor and protect each other for their entire lives.

            For all the solemn ceremony and ritual of the Shinto wedding, it hadn’t even come close to making him feel how he did right now after their simple vows and heartfelt promises. From the look on Kagome’s face and the scent of joy on her skin, it was obvious that she felt the same way.

            “I love you, Kagome,” he whispered.

            “I love you too, Inuyasha. Forever and always.”

            “You may kiss the bride!” Yukio announced.

            Laughing softly, he reached up to cup Kagome’s cheek, drawing her close to kiss her. She deepened the kiss as the crowd cheered and didn’t let him go until they both had to breathe.

            :Mate,: she barked when they paused for breath.

            :Mate,: he answered, and kissed her again, putting all of the love he felt for her, had always felt for her, into the kiss.

            When the kiss ended, they held hands and faced their guests, bowing deeply. Then they turned back to the table, and the mikos lit the two standing tapers.

_‘Oh yeah, the candle thing.’_

            The unity candle had been Kagome’s idea after having seen it done at so many of the weddings they had been invited to. She was always one for sentimental gestures and the ritual of the candle was right up her alley. He’d agreed to it, of course, just as he agreed to just about anything she requested, and in reality, part of his own sentimental heart thought the custom was a little sweet, albeit somewhat pointless. Still, anything was worth it for the smile she was giving him now.

            “The couple will now perform the luminary ceremony of lighting the unity candle to symbolize the joining of two into one,” the priest announced.

            Following Kagome’s lead, he picked up the taper closest to him as she picked up hers and together they lit the central candle. Then they picked up the third, larger taper and lit it from the flame of the unity candle.

            “The couple will now share their joy and unity with their family and friends by lighting the candles on the tables,” the priest said.

            Hand in hand, they visited the tables and lit the central candle placed on each one. When they were finished, they returned to the nuptial table where the unity candle still burned and snuffed out the taper, placing it on the table next to the other two. Then Inuyasha turned to the guests.

            “I know that Eri has a lot more entertainment planned and there’ll be more speeches. Kagome and I will make a speech later, but for now, let’s eat! All this ceremony is making me  ** _hungry!_** ”

            “Remember ladies that the way to any good man’s heart is through his  ** _stomach_** ,” Kagome teased.

            “And don’t you forget it!”

            The guests cheered and followed them to the wedding table, going to their seats and settling in as the waitstaff prepared to serve the formal meal.

            With Kagome at his side, he sat and waited for the servers to bring him a plate of food. Under the table, he still held his wife’s hand, even as he couldn’t stop looking at the platinum ring on his finger. She seemed enamored with it too, as well as her own ring which she kept glancing down at where their hands were joined. A moment or two later, a large plate of food was placed in front of him along with a side bowl full of ramen.

             _‘Ramen! I am so happy!’_  “Ah, real food!” he enthused.

            “You didn’t think I would make you suffer through getting dressed up and wearing shoes and not reward your good behavior with ramen,” she replied, taking a bite of her thin-sliced beef.

            “Is ramen all I’ll get as a reward?” he asked innocently.

            “That depends on how good your behavior is.”

            “Define good behavior.”

            She opened her mouth to answer when the photographer flashed a picture right in their faces.

            “OW!” he yelled.

            “Good behavior would be not killing that idiot.”

            He growled but tamped down his instinct to gut the stupid fool.  _‘Damn weasel-hanyous. Too sly and sneaky for their own good.’_

            The tapping of glasses called the guests to attention as the old man stood up to give the first toast.

            “My granddaughter is married! She is an honest wife and my grandson-in-law is honorable again! Banzai!”

            “Banzai!” the guests cheered.

             _‘Honorable again? I was always honorable, you old geezer! You’d better appreciate all of this, old man. Look what Kagome went through for you, putting on that heavy kimono and painting her face white so you’d be happy,’_  he thought angrily, even as he drank. Beside him Kagome sipped her sake, but he saw her hand tremble and her eyes become stricken.

            Sesshoumaru stood.

_‘What the hell does he want?’_

            “This Sesshoumaru will make a toast to my brother and his wife.”

             _‘Shit. And Kagome made me promise to be good so I can’t curse at him and blast him with Tessaiga.’_

            The waitstaff hurried to refill the sake cups.

            “Inuyasha. Worthy of his family name. Worthy of Chichi-ue’s blood. Kagome. Worthy of him.”

            Inuyasha was so stunned by the simple, yet direct toast that he almost forgot to drink.

            “Wow,” Kagome murmured next to him.

             _‘He said… he said I was worthy of Oyaji’s blood.’_  He gasped as the realization hit him.  _‘He’s smacking down the old man! The sad part is, he doesn’t even realize it. My father was honorable and just. Sesshoumaru basically just told the old man off.’_

            Looking at Kagome, then at Yukio who was seated at the table closest to them, he noted that at least they had realized what Sesshoumaru had done. He smiled widely, puffed with pride, and drank.

            “Hmph. Do not let words of praise go to your head, hanyou,” Sesshoumaru added, then sat down.

             _‘Aww fuck you too. You said it and I am never going to let you forget it, you pompous ass.’_

            Sesshoumaru’s toast sparked a plethora of toasts and speeches, most of which he ignored and only pretended to drink the sake because his ramen was getting cold. He stood when Kagome prompted, smiled when prompted, pretended to drink when prompted, then went back to the important task of eating. The toasts didn’t mean that much to him. Kagome was the one who loved fancy words. He didn’t need them and never had. No one needed to tell him he was a lucky bastard. No one needed to tell him to be good to his wife. No one needed to wish them well or say how beautiful they looked or how perfect they were for each other. He already knew all of that. What was the point of needless blathering? Especially when there was ramen to be had. Seemed pretty silly to him.

            Somewhere between his third bowl of ramen and the roving musicians, someone came to tell them it was time to cut the cake. He stood up with Kagome and they both went over to the huge cake with four tiers and beautiful cascades of roses and orchids made from spun sugar. The thing was a true work of art and it seemed almost a shame to mar the perfectly smooth, hard case icing. The topper was made of blown glass and depicted two roses entwined around each other with wedding rings on their stems. The cake itself was a simple white cake but small saucers of chocolate and raspberry sauces had been placed on each table for the guests to drizzle on their cake if they wished.

            The head waiter handed him a decorative knife and he turned to Kagome.

            “Are you sure you want to mess this thing up? It’s so pretty.”

            “Two words: 220,000 yen.”

            “That’s five words,” he teased, but he knew what she meant. She was telling him that they weren’t about to spend that much money on a cake and then not eat it.

            “Gimme the knife.”

            He snickered and handed her the knife. The photographer took his position and he placed his hand over hers as they cut a small piece of cake from the lowest tier. Placing it on a white plate, he cut the piece in half then picked one up and held it between his fingers as she picked up the other.

            “Smash it in her face!” someone cat-called.

_‘Hmmm, Shippou. You’re still an annoying runt.’_

            “Do it and there will be a crater the size of your body permanently smashed into this ground,” she warned him.

            He gulped, but in reality he hadn’t been planning on doing it anyway. Smiling at her, he fed her his piece as she fed him the one she had and the photographer took more pictures. Ritual complete, the caterer set about slicing the cake into pieces for the guests. One of the servers took the top layer and carried it off.

            “Where is she taking that?” he asked.

            “They’re going to preserve it and we’ll eat it on our first wedding anniversary.”

            He raised an eyebrow at her. “We are?”

            “Yes.”

            “We’re gonna eat year-old cake on our anniversary?”

            “Yes.”

            “Whose bright idea was this?”

            “It’s tradition.”

            “Don’t you think we’ve had enough of tradition today?”

            “Yes, but this is a fun tradition. It’s considered good luck and an omen for long life to eat the top tier of our cake on our anniversary. We’ll freeze it and thaw it out a couple of days beforehand,” she explained.

            “Bah, we already have good luck and long life. Don’t need to eat year-old cake for that.” She gave him a look and he submitted immediately. “Okay, we’ll eat year-old cake.”

            She brightened. “Thank you.”

            Back at their table, two pieces of cake had been set out for them along with the sauces. Kagome drizzled some chocolate sauce on hers while he chose a bit of raspberry and they both ate their pieces.

            “Mmmmmmm. Yummy, but I don’t know if it was worth 220,000 yen,” she commented.

            “Somehow I don’t think we were paying for taste,” he replied.

            “True.”

            She sighed and put down her plate. “I know we should visit each table and greet all the guests now, but I’d rather change into the blue dress Eri made for me first. This dress is much lighter than the Shiro-maku was but it’s still heavy and the satin is hot.”

            “Well, now that the old man has had his Shinto ceremony, it’s our wedding now so you can do what you want,” he told her. “I wouldn’t mind getting out of this tux and into my casual suit.”

            “Please, Inuyasha, I know you’re not happy with Jii-chan right now and to be honest neither am I, but he honestly was doing what he thought was right. He might be a bit senile and confusing at times, but he’s always taken the shrine and its traditions very seriously. I know it was a hardship and a hassle, but it made him happy and that’s what’s important to me,” she chided softly, then looked sad. “Who knows how much longer he’ll be with us. In a few years we’ll probably bury him too.”

            He lowered his ears and gave her a tender nuzzle. “I know. You’re right. Still, it was our wedding and for all the solemn ceremony of the Shinto wedding, it didn’t come close to making me feel as happy and complete as exchanging our rings with you. If I’d had a choice, I would have skipped the san-san-kudo and gone straight to the “I do” part.”

            “No, san-san-kudo was important. The ritual is something all couples should think about because its meaning is very poignant,” she corrected.

            “Okay. We could have kept the san-san-kudo but skipped everything else.”

            She nodded. “Yeah, but then Jii-chan would have been disappointed. Mama too. It made them very proud and happy to see me in Oba-chan’s wedding kimono. I’m sorry that you hated it so much.”

            “I didn’t hate it. I just… you looked like a doll and not a real woman. I like you natural, Kagome. You’re beautiful just as you are and you always have been. I love you in fancy clothes and I love you in jeans and a t-shirt, and I especially love you in noth…”

            “Don’t say it,” she warned, but there was a glint of amusement in her eyes.

            He grinned. “So, you wanted to change?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Let’s go then.”

            “Okay.”

            She led the way towards the house and he followed. They were halfway there when a voice called out to them.

            “Kagome-chan! Kagome-chan!” Ayumi said as she ran up to them.

            “Ayumi-chan, is everything all right?” Kagome asked.

            “Oh yes. I just saw you and Inuyasha-kun going towards the house. Are you going to change again?”

            “Yes.”

            “I’ll help you with your dress then,” the girl offered.

            “Oh there is no need. Inuyasha will…”

            “Please, Kagome-chan, I’d really like to help you with your dress,” she insisted with a pleading look in her eyes.

            “Oi, problems with my son?” he asked, taking a guess as to what was bothering her.

            Ayumi blinked at him, confused. “Oh! With Miroku? Oh no, there aren’t any problems with him. In fact he’s wonderful. No, I just…” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I just need to get away from Yuka and Eri for a bit.”

            “Ah,” Kagome replied in understanding. “Well, in that case, I suppose I could use some help with my zipper.”

            “Oh arigato, Kagome-chan!”

            “What did my daughter do?” he questioned as they continued towards the house.

            “Not our Eri, Inuyasha. Eri from my school is who she is talking about,” Kagome corrected.

            “Oh.”

            “I feel so badly, Kagome-chan, but I’m losing patience with them. I know they can’t see what everyone really looks like because of the illusion spells, but all they can talk about is how you’re marrying into such a rich family and all the things you will be able to do and buy,” Ayumi admitted.

            “Well, Fushikenwa is a powerful name in Japan. They probably think I’m marrying Inuyasha for his money,” Kagome replied as they entered the genkan and kicked off their shoes.

            “No. They know you married Inuyasha for love. That much is too obvious. Besides they know you would never put up with him after everything he put you through if you didn’t love him. Thank you for altering the concealment spell to leave your hair and eyes their natural color, by the way.”

            He shrugged. “I knew they’d seen me before. It made things easier.”

            “So they are talking a lot about Inuyasha’s fortune,” Kagome commented.

            “Yeah. They were gushing about the shopping trips you’ll make and how you won’t have to work if you don’t want to.”

            He snorted. “I owe my fortune to Kagome. I wouldn’t have anywhere near the amount that I do if it hadn’t been for her.”

            “And you have to remember, Ayumi, it’s normal for them to think that way. As far as they are concerned, I’m marrying Prince Charming,” Kagome offered reasonably.

            “I know, but that’s not the point. They don’t know anything. They don’t see anything. And I can. It’s like I have nothing in common with them anymore.” The girl stopped short, her eyes wide. “That’s how it was for you, wasn’t it.”

            “Hm?” his wife asked as they walked up the stairs.

            “When we were in school and you were traveling back and forth to the other world to fight demons and look for jewel shards. We were talking about boys and make-up and the latest gossip, but you were worrying about keeping everyone safe and trying to take care of Yukio. How did you do it?”

            He frowned as he listened to the girl blather on. He hated being reminded of all Kagome had sacrificed to be with him, especially after the well had closed.

            Kagome shrugged. “Coming back was always like a vacation. I could put aside all my worries about the other world and just be a normal girl. Listening to you talk about boys and gossip about school was refreshing.”

            ‘ _Were you ever a normal girl, Kagome?_ ’ he wondered.

            “Oh. But still… knowing what I know now. It all seems so… petty, doesn’t it?”

            They reached the door to Kagome’s old room. “Not petty, just different,” Kagome answered. “Meet you downstairs in a few minutes, Inuyasha?”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “I love you.”

            “Love you too.”

            Ayumi smiled. “You two are so sweet. I hope someday I’ll have a husband as sweet as yours, Kagome.”

            He heard Kagome giggle as she and Ayumi disappeared into her room. “Oh he can be a handful when he wants to be.”

            “Oh I know, but still, he loves you so much.”

            “Yes, he does. But enough about me. Tell me about Miroku. Is he behaving?”

            “Oh yes. He’s a perfect gentleman…”

            He didn’t hear the rest of it as the door closed and he went into Souta’s room to change into more comfortable attire. Slipping out of the tux, he hung it back on its hanger and put on his favorite “dress-up” outfit of a simple white rough silk shirt and loose, black trousers. Then he returned to the downstairs floor of the house to wait for Kagome. She came out with Ayumi a few minutes later and he watched her come down the stairs.

            When Inuyasha saw his wife in her blue Eri-Original, he had to pause to catch his breath. Kagome had always looked stunning in blue but his eldest daughter had outdone herself with the light, delicate and undoubtedly feminine design. The dress had spaghetti straps and clung to her body until it got to her waist, then it flared out and went down into an uneven hemline that looked like multiple scarves had been overlaid onto each other. The dress had a loose, hand dyed blue shawl with fern patterns impressed in gold paint on the fabric.

            “Koishii…” he breathed, feeling underdressed.

            She came up to him and he saw her touch the rings on her finger right before she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

            “You are so beautiful,” he told her.

            “I love you.”

            “I love you too, Kagome. So very much.”

            She slipped her arm in his and gave him a sweet, tender smile.

            “Shall we return to our reception?”

            He put his hand over hers and smiled. “Can we skip the rest of the reception and go straight to the honeymoon?”

            She smacked him. “Hentai.”

            He snickered and kissed her again. Then they headed, arm in arm, back out to the shrine and their party.

            If there was anything that proved that the reception was unconventional by Japanese standards it was the presence of the dance floor. Eri had hired a band to play music for the guests, and Inuyasha stood back to watch as the high and mighty Japanese youkai were stupefied by the number of guests taking advantage of the portable wooden platform. Of course, the ones dancing were all his pups. His son Isato was spinning his lovely Spanish beauty around while Yukio and Eri danced a simple cha-cha. He saw a number of his other pups enjoying the lively band, as well as Shippou and his mate Mitsiyomi. Even Miroku had taken his girl and was showing her how to do a little two-step. The girl was flame red with embarrassment and kept looking their way, but Kagome just smiled and shook her head.

            Japanese typically did not dance at wedding receptions, preferring individual performances and the enjoyment of non-participatory entertainment. His family, however, was no longer Japanese. Having long before spread out all over the globe, they had adopted the customs and traditions of their adopted countries. While the Fushikenwa name lived on in Japan, many of them hadn’t been residents of the country in decades. In fact, more Japanese youkai recognized his sons Yukio and Miroku than him. Before they had returned to Japan for the reunion, he hadn’t set foot in his birth country for more than a couple of days in eighty years.

            To be honest, he was rather fond of his anonymity. It afforded him a freedom he hadn’t enjoyed when he and Sesshoumaru were unmistakable figures in youkai society. Sesshoumaru, of course, had returned to build his empire as soon as he was able, and his face and name were legendary, but his younger, hanyou brother had somewhat faded into the woodwork. Those who were ‘in the know’ knew who he was, and his name was still as well-known as Sesshoumaru’s, but most younger youkai or youkai who had moved to Japan after he and Kagome had left wouldn’t know him if they tripped over him. They might know  ** _of_**  the famous Fushikenwa Inuyasha, but most of them hadn’t a clue that  ** _he_**  was the Inuyasha of old even if they happened to hear his name. Not one for the spotlight anyway, Inuyasha was perfectly content to remain a faceless name recorded in the youkai history books.

            Kagome, of course, was to be protected at all costs, and they had done their best to keep her name out of the historical record. More often than not she was referred to as ‘the great miko’ or ‘Inuyasha’s companion,’ her true name mentioned only rarely. They kept her time traveling and knowledge of the future a strict secret with only a very select few privy to that information, and once his and her lives had become bound to one another, they had endeavored to hide her identity even more. Today’s Fushikenwa Kagome was famous in her own right for her knowledge and skill in treating hanyou children, and more recently as the first human woman to bear a hanyou’s child, but very, very few youkai knew that she had been the great miko who had fought Naraku and purified the Shikon no Tama. The fact that the famous jewel had been gone for over four centuries helped as well. He was eager to get her back to Alberta and away from the persistent Japanese youkai paparazzi. Out of sight was out of mind as far as the Tokyo press was concerned, furthering Kagome’s descent into obscurity which was exactly where he wanted her.

            If he had any true weakness, it was Kagome. She was his Achilles’ heel. His reputation alone kept the majority of threats away, but it would be very dangerous for his enemies to discover that he and Kagome were linked. Those who could not get to  ** _him_** , might very well go after  ** _her_**  thinking she was the easier target. They’d get a rude awakening very quickly when they discovered that Kagome was viciously protected by their pups. One of the reasons he was secretly relieved that Yukio refused to move too far away from them, and was also overjoyed to have him living with them, was because he trusted his eldest’s ability to protect his mother. Inuyasha had trained him himself and they had fought many battles together. He knew very well his son’s skill in a fight, and he had no doubts that Yukio would die before he let anything happen to Kagome.

            Kagome tugged on his arm, bringing him out of his thoughts and guided him over to the first table to begin their obligatory visits to speak to each of their guests. He followed her lead and hoped that he said all the right things at the right time in order not to piss anyone off. Kagome was so much better at dealing with people than he was and he was more than happy to let her do the talking for the both of them. He didn’t much care when the ‘guests’ were his pups because they knew him and he did not have to worry about etiquette or proper manners.

            Almost all of them had made it back to Japan for the wedding, and he was glad so many had been able to attend. Even though having all of them in one place was quite the feat, he loved it when his pups were all in one place. As pack leader, getting used to the reality that pups grew up and left home instead of staying with the pack had always been a challenge for him, especially with his girls. If he’d had any say in the matter, he would have built a village just for his family and kept them all close-by.

            At tables where the guests were high-ranking youkai or business colleagues, he was a little less at ease and Kagome took the lead effortlessly as they made their rounds. Most of the guests had brought the traditional gift of cash in the elaborately decorated Shugi-bukuro envelopes. It wasn’t that they needed the money to pay for their reception, but cash was considered the proper gift for the occasion. Most of it would probably go into a trust fund set aside for Ian’s education.

            It took them almost an hour, but they completed their rounds and returned to the wedding table for a much needed break. The respite did not last long however, and he had barely finished another bowl of ramen when Tetsukazu came over to them.

            “Mama! Mama, you look so beautiful,” their dragon-hanyou son said.

            “Thank you, sweetheart,” Kagome replied, standing as he reached for her hand.

            “Dance with me? Papa, can I take her?”

            “Oi, how is your Sight?” he asked shrewdly. He did not need an instant replay of the reunion.

            His dragon-hanyou son smiled. “It’s fine. I’ve been practicing the new blocking exercises my aunt taught me. I’m much better.”

            “Okay then, but not for too long,” he agreed.

            Kagome gave him a kiss and smile as Tetsu dragged her off to the dance floor.

            “He has been much better since he got back from Tibet,” Izayoi confirmed, joining him as he stood leaning with his back against the wedding table.

            He nodded and looked over at his daughter who was holding his youngest son. She must have taken him from Mariko sometime after he’d last seen her. Ian was awake, but looking sleepy.

            “Here, give him to me,” he said, holding out his hands. He hadn’t held Ian since that morning.

            “Tou,” Ian sniffled as Izayoi handed him over.

            “Hey pup,” he cooed, patting his son’s back.

            The pup curled his hands into his shirt and rested his little head on his shoulder. He felt his son relaxing against him and he rocked him gently.

            “He’s tired,” Izayoi commented.

            “Yeah, been a long day for him,” he admitted, looking at the reddening sky.

            It was getting on sunset. Soon the paper lanterns would be lit and the shrine would be flooded with their soft light. On the dance floor, Kagome was dancing with Tetsu, the silk of her dress swirling around her. He didn’t dance, but he loved to watch his mate as she glided over the temporary parquet, turning lightly in son’s hands. Smiling, he moved over to sit beneath Goshinboku where he could watch the festivities while holding his sleeping son.

            The sun set and the lanterns came on, along with strings of twinkling white lights that were hung with the paper lanterns. The rest of the shrine fell into darkness as night descended and he was shrouded in the soft colors of twilight. There seemed to be an unspoken decision to leave him alone while he sat under the sacred tree. Maybe it was because he was holding Ian, maybe it was because they knew he wanted to be undisturbed. Whatever the reason, he was grateful for the quasi-solitude. So much so that he didn’t even bother to get up when Kouga took Kagome away from Tetsu for a dance. After all, it was  ** _his_**  ring on Kagome’s finger and not the stinking wolf’s. Besides, his eldest was on it almost immediately, cutting in and stealing his mother away from the wolf-lord after the first song.

_‘Good pup.’_

            A plaintive mew broke his thoughts and he turned his head to see Kirara sitting next to him. He gave the firecat a soft smile and she flicked her tails at him happily.

            “Did you get some fish?” he asked her.

            She mewed an assent and rubbed against his leg before settling beside him and purring.

            ‘ _Yeah, me too,’_  he thought contentedly.

            The music changed and now Yukio was dancing a slow dance with Kagome, her hand lightly on his shoulder and her face cracked into a brilliant grin as he said something that amused her. He envied his son’s quiet self confidence. Yukio had always grabbed life with both hands, probably because he knew his parents would catch him by his ankles if they had to. He had never known the hate and prejudice that his father had grown up with. He had never been run out of a village by an angry mob or hunted down like an animal. He had never known the pain of being rejected by everyone and everything, of never belonging somewhere and never having friends.

             _‘I gave him the life I wished I’d had, and he’s always done me proud. All of them have done me proud… usually.’_

            Isato grabbed Kagome from Yukio and spun her as the music changed again. He could hear her laughter from where he sat and it was music to his ears. He loved to hear her laugh, and he enjoyed watching her dance with their sons.

            Kirara moving was his first clue that something was up, then a slight change in the atmosphere made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Reflexively he reached for the sword at his side, supporting his sleeping pup with one hand, but he relaxed when he saw that the firecat did not seem alarmed. Her attention, however, was certainly fixed on a point just out of his view. He shifted his position to see what it was that she was looking at, but he couldn’t really tell. Then a soft glow appeared and slowly took shape.

_‘It can’t be…’_

            But it was and his heart pounded in his chest as the figures of his long dead friends appeared, coming to pay their respects on their special day. Sango and Miroku looked as they had in their younger years, not as they had been in the autumn of their lives. Sango was wearing the battle gear of the taijiya and Hiraikotsu was slung over her shoulder. She looked ready for anything, proud and tall as he remembered her in life. Miroku was dressed in his monk’s robes, his staff in his hand and his face quietly amused. Both of them stood silently, looking at the festivities under the lights.

            He knew he was staring like a fish out of water and for a moment he thought they couldn’t see him. Then the translucent figure of Miroku cast a fond glance his way and he knew that they were well aware of him. A moment later the shade of Kohaku joined his sister, followed by the figures of all of their children, long dead, until he was surrounded by those he had known and lost.

             _‘Well, of course they would be here. All of them are buried here. Kagome’s ancestors are the great-grandchildren of Sango and Miroku.’_

            They did not speak, but they didn’t need to. Their presence was telling enough and he wondered if Kagome could see them as well. He watched his wife carefully and saw her look his way. Then he saw her step falter as she saw their new visitors. Disengaging herself from the dancing, he watched her come over, her step uncertain.

            “Inuyasha,” she whispered.

            “Yeah, I know,” he answered as he rose to his feet and stood next to her.

            The music stopped and the guests grew still, lining up along the edge of the lighted area. He had no idea what they were seeing, especially since many of them were under the Spell of Normalcy and that was certain to filter out what was happening, but he couldn’t really be concerned about that considering  ** _he_**  wasn’t entirely certain exactly what was happening either.

            “Miroku-sama. Sango-chan.”

            Their two friends smiled and bowed.

            “Kohaku-kun…”

            The image of the tortured young man smiled softly and bowed as well. Miroku stepped forward and put his hand up, making a gesture of blessing over the sleeping pup. Tears sprang up in Kagome’s eyes, and she gave them a grateful smile.

            “Thank you, Miroku-sama.”

            Another small bow was her answer.

            “Yeah, thanks,” he said, giving his friend a nod.

            Miroku smiled at him.

            “I’m… I’m so happy that you could be here tonight. We miss you so much,” Kagome added.

            Sango gave them a sweet smile that spoke volumes for all of them. Then she made a gesture with her arm that encompassed the shrine and all of those present. Kagome nodded in understanding.

            “I know we’ll all be together some day. I take great comfort in that.”

            Sango nodded and placed a hand over her heart.

            “We love you too,” Kagome replied, tears rolling silently down her cheeks. “I hope, I pray that you are at peace.”

            Sango and Miroku looked at each other and reached out to hold each others hand, then they smiled at Kagome and nodded.

            “I’m so glad,” she said.

            Miroku looked behind him and his smile faded.

            “Is it time for you to go?” Kagome asked.

            The former monk nodded and looked apologetic.

            “I’m sorry too,” she admitted. “But I’m happy that you could visit for this short time at least.”

            The tender smiles came back as their long dead friends looked fondly at them. Then one by one, the shades turned and faded from sight until only Sango and Miroku remained. They stayed for a moment longer, then they both bowed and stepped back, their figures blurring with each step until they too were gone. Silence reigned in their wake.

            “Well, I was planning to call in a few favors and get Yamaguchi Kappei to come sing for us, but I don’t think I can upstage that,” Yukio commented, breaking the somber, tense mood.

            “Heh,” he replied.

            “Otou-san, was that…?” Miroku asked, looking a little shell shocked.

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            “That was your namesake,” Yukio confirmed.

            “Oh.”

            “Well, I think that’s our cue to wrap this thing up, ne?” he said.

            Kagome nodded and took his hand as he gave Ian to Izayoi.

            “Here, hold him while we make our speech,” he asked.

            “Of course,” his daughter agreed, taking the sleeping pup and cradling him against her shoulder. Ian didn’t even snuffle.

            Still holding hands, he led Kagome up to the dance floor and held out his hand to take the microphone from the band singer.

            “I’d like to thank all of you for coming tonight. Our day would not have been the same if you had not been able to share it with us,” he began. “We are very grateful that you could be here.”

            Knowing that he wasn’t one for long speeches or flowery words, Kagome gently took the microphone from him.

            “It means so much to us to see so many of our family and friends here with us. This wedding has been a long time in coming and all of you have helped to make our day perfect,” she said. “I would like to personally thank my mother and grandfather for standing in for me during our ceremony, and Nishitaishou Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin-sama for standing for Inuyasha. I also would like to thank Fushikenwa Yukio for agreeing to be our Nakodo. I know it was nerve-wracking for him but he did a wonderful job. I would like to thank Bast Eri for her excellent planning skills. As always, her taste and talent have provided us with the best food and entertainment we could have ever asked for. Our priest, the honorable Shinzo Kanawa and his lovely daughters for being our officiants, I thank you for presiding over our wedding ceremony. Thank you to all of the performers, cooks and servers. All of you have contributed to making this day a wonderful day for us. Thank you very much.

            “You will find catalogs at each of your place settings with your choice of gift. Please choose whatever you would like as a token of our gratitude. Once again, thank you very much all of you for being with us tonight and for sharing our special day. You have made our joy complete.”

            He took the microphone back. “The band will keep playing for a while longer, but Kagome and I are leaving for our honeymoon. That’s right isn’t it?” He turned to her. “Now we get to go on a honeymoon with no pups, right?  ** _Right?_** ”

            The crowd laughed and Kagome hid her mouth behind her hands.

            “Oi! You didn’t answer my question!”

            Kagome’s answer was to shrug and giggle, and then she took the mike from him. “He never changes.”

            “Oi! Do I get a honeymoon without pups or not!”

            “Get him out of here before he pops a vein!” Eri cat-called.

            “Don’t worry. I’ll put him out of his misery,” Kagome promised. “Thank you again everyone.”

            She gave the microphone back to the singer who lead a rousing farewell cheer as he picked up his wife and carried her bridal style off the dance floor.

            “Sayonara!” she called, waving good-bye when he didn’t stop, but instead kept going until he had carried her clear out of the shrine.

            He took her all the way to Tokyo House where he set her down in the genkan.

            “You stay here. I’ll get the bags,” he told her.

            “Bags?”

            “Yeah. I’ve made reservations for us at the Four Seasons for the night.”

            “You did?”

            “Yes. Our pupless honeymoon starts tonight. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

            She gave him a shrewd look. “That depends. Did you tell anyone else about your plan?”

            “Bah! Of course,” he replied.

            “All right then, as long as no one is expecting us to be here tonight.”

            “Izayoi promised to bring Ian to the airport tomorrow morning so we can say good-bye,” he added, knowing that would be one of her concerns.

            “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”

            “I tried, and Eri caught what I missed,” he admitted.

            “I should have known that she’d be in on this.”

            “You thought I’d be able to plan something without her?”

            She just giggled and shook her head. “Go get the bags. I’ll be here waiting.”

            He kissed her with all the promise of the night and honeymoon to come. “I’ve learned never to keep a lady waiting. I’ll be right back.”

            To his surprise, he found the bags neatly lined up and waiting right inside the shoji. A moment later a limousine pulled up to the door just as he was getting ready to load the BMW.

             _‘Eri, you don’t miss a beat. Thank you,’_  he thought as the chauffeur took their bags and loaded them into the trunk.

            “She doesn’t miss a beat,” Kagome commented as they got into the back.

            He shook his head and smiled. “No, she doesn’t.”  _‘Great minds think alike.’_

            The ride to the hotel was uneventful and their room was ready when they arrived. Eri had done more of her magic and the room had been appointed with champagne, flowers and two brightly wrapped gifts placed on the bed. Tomorrow they would fly to Hawaii for a two week honeymoon, but for now they were truly alone for the first time in months. Smiling in anticipation, he drew his wife close and kissed her.

            “I love you,” he whispered, nibbling at her neck.

            She moaned softly and rubbed his ears.

            “Mmmm. Kagome…”

            “Inuyasha.”

            He moved to slip the blue shawl off of her shoulders but she stopped him.

            “What is it?” he asked, worried that something was wrong.

            “I have a gift for you,” she answered.

            He smiled and nuzzled her. “There’s nothing you could give me that would make me happier than I am right now.”

            “Maybe, but I think you’ve earned this. Close your eyes.”

            Giving her only a token bit of resistance, he did as she asked and waited with his eyes closed. He felt her doing something with his neck and his eyes opened wide just in time to see her lift the rosary over his head.

             _‘What the? No!’_  “Kagome…”

            “You don’t need this anymore, Inuyasha. I’ve replaced your rosary with a wedding ring,” she explained.

            “But…” ‘ _My prayer beads…’_

            “You don’t need it, and you’ve worn it long enough,” she insisted, placing the prayer beads in his hand.

            He looked down at them, already missing their weight around his neck. They didn’t belong in his palm; they belonged resting against his collarbone where they had been for the past 453 years.

             _‘But that wasn’t the point…’_  “Is the spell broken now?” he asked unsteadily.

            “Yes.”

             _‘If they can’t sit me, maybe she’ll put them back.’_  “Then I want to keep wearing them, even though they can’t subdue me anymore.”

            She gave him an understanding smile, as if she wasn’t at all surprised to hear his request.

            “All right,” she agreed.

            He lowered his head down and she slipped the beads back on, making him feel much better the moment they returned to their rightful place around his neck.

            “Thank you,” he said, kissing her.

            She gave him a little nuzzle. “I should have known that you’d want them back.”

            “They belong there because they’re part of what binds us together. I’ve worn them so long that I can’t imagine not having them with me.”

            “My hanyou, the closet sentimental. You’re still a big, fluffy puppy.”

            He growled. “I’ll show you fluffy puppy. This puppy bites.”

            She laughed. “Oh I know. In fact, I’m betting on it.”

            :Mate,: he barked, picking her up in his arms again.

            :Mate,: she replied, baring her throat.

            He groaned and licked the pulse point of her neck.

             _‘Love, love, love you, Kagome,’_  he sighed to himself, letting her scent fill his nostrils and make him whole.

            “I love you, Inuyasha,” she whispered.

            “I love you, Kagome. Wife.”

            “Husband.”

            “Wife,” he repeated, silencing her answer with another kiss as he carried her to the bed.

 


	49. Epilogue

Epilogue

            The late summer sun kissed the mountains and warmed the forest as a gentle breeze blew softly through the tall trees, rustling the heavy pine boughs above her. Kagome opened her eyes and looked over the vast expanse of the perfectly manicured lawn that made up the back yard until it ended at the tree-line. Summers in Alberta were much cooler than those in Japan but they weren’t nearly as wet. The days were long and many times unblemished by a single offending cloud. The day had started out sunny, but now as the evening loomed the sky had begun to darken with cloud cover.

            Lying in the hammock Inuyasha had hung between two trees, she had an unobstructed view of the open area, and she smiled as she watched her eldest son playing with her youngest. Yukio was rolling on his back while Ian ‘wrestled’ with him. Yukio was pretending to let the little one win and he had his hands up in surrender.

            The toddler had recently celebrated his first birthday in a bash befitting of his ¼ hanyou status, although much of the reason behind such a big to-do was lost on the boy. He liked his cake, found the wrapping paper more interesting than the presents themselves, and spent the majority of his day either sleeping or yanking on his siblings’ hair. He became more like his father every day.

            From her comfortable place in the hammock, she could hear Ian’s giggles and Yukio’s deeper chuckles as they frolicked on the grass.

            “Nikki! Nikki!” Ian laughed, pouncing on Yukio’s back.

            Ian was unable to say ‘Aniki,’ but he could say ‘Nikki’ which for now was close enough. Kagome didn’t dare remind either of the adult inu-hanyous living with her that ‘Nikki’ was a popular dog name.

            “Argh!” Yukio mock yelled as he pretended to collapse under Ian’s ‘assault,’ and the pup climbed onto his back to ‘pin’ him down.

            She suppressed a laugh at their antics. Yukio was so good with children. He’d been instrumental in the raising of all of his siblings, often taking Inuyasha’s place when the older hanyou had to go off hunting or away on business. She’d often wished that he’d been a father in his own right and cursed the hanyou infertility. She had no doubts that Yukio would make an excellent parent and hoped that someday he would mate again.

            There were no prospects for him, however, and all of Sesshoumaru’s attempts to fix him up with an arranged marriage had fallen flat. Yukio wasn’t ready to consider mating again, and when he was finally ready he’d chose his own partner. No, her best hope for grandchildren so far was Miroku. Although a couple of her mated hanyou children were making noises that they might give the newly developing fertility treatments a try. Miroku was still dating Ayumi and things seemed to be progressing nicely. They may have hit a small snag, however, because Ayumi had called the previous day in a panic. Apparently, Miroku had lost his temper and he’d frightened her badly. His anger hadn’t been directed at her, thankfully, but it was still enough to scare her out of her wits.

            Kagome hoped that she was able to help her friend deal with the realities of the hanyou nature. While often staggeringly willing to please and uncharacteristically loyal, there still remained the thinly contained violence of their youkai blood. If Ayumi was going to mate Miroku, she had to able to handle him when he went into a rage. Kagome had talked her through it, given her suggestions on how to calm him down, and how to keep him from going off in the first place. They seemed to work because Miroku had called a few hours later to thank her. It seemed the whole incident had begun when he and Ayumi had been attacked by a would-be mugger while they were walking back to the car. The man had brandished a knife, Ayumi had screamed, and all of Miroku’s protective instincts had kicked into high gear. Luckily, he didn’t kill the stupid jerk, but he did send him flying into the nearest brick wall. But even though he had his sword with him, it still took him quite a long time to calm down, and he’d been gruff and ill-tempered for hours. Being that it was the first time Ayumi had ever seen Miroku truly angry, she was understandably caught off guard.

            The incident had given the girl the opportunity to ask some questions that she had to have been dying to ask, however, so it was possible that the whole thing was actually a blessing in disguise. Ayumi had not only asked about Miroku’s temper, but also posed questions about his weekly therapy sessions and his youkai blood. Kagome did her best to answer her questions without violating any trust her son had placed in her to respect his privacy. She encouraged her to ask Miroku about the subjects she was wondering about, and get the information directly from the person in question. Knowing how polite and reserved the Japanese normally were, Kagome had no doubt that actually mustering up the courage to ask Miroku some of the personal questions she had would take Ayumi months, but she knew that her son was no liar and he would answer her truthfully.

            The sound of footsteps approaching brought her out of her thoughts, and she turned her head to see Inuyasha coming towards her carrying two tall glasses of iced tea. He placed them on the small table set beside the hammock and climbed in beside her, rocking it dangerously but not tipping it over. Kagome wasn’t the least bit concerned that they would fall out. He had been getting into hammocks with her for centuries, and she had the utmost confidence in his ability to get in without making them both kiss the grass.

            “Hi,” he greeted, kissing her chin.

            “Hi,” she replied.

            “What are you up to?”

            She smiled and looked back at Yukio with Ian. Yukio was now on all fours and he was giving Ian a pony ride while the toddler sat on his shoulders.

            “Watching our children play.”

            His eyes followed her line of sight and he chuckled. “Feh. You’d think it was his pup with how he fusses.”

            “He’s always been that way.”

            “I know.”

            He sighed, putting an arm around her and snuggling close. She reached down to the table to pick up an iced tea, knowing which one was hers because it had 3 slices of lemon in it. Taking a sip, she sighed and smiled.

            “I know who made this. It has just a hint of cinnamon. Mmm. Love it.”

            Beside her Inuyasha chuckled. “Like that, do you?”

            “Yep.”

            They fell quiet for a moment, watching Yukio tussle with Ian who never seemed to get tired of playing these days. Thank god Yukio loved roughhousing with the toddler otherwise his antics would have gotten on everyone’s nerves.

            “Rain coming in,” Inuyasha predicted, sniffing and casting a glance at the overcast sky. “Big storm.”

            “Hmm, and your nose never lies.”

            “No. We’ve got another hour though, so no need to rush inside.”

            “Good. Better to let Yukio wear out our little bundle of joy out here rather than wreaking havoc in the house,” she commented.

            “Bah, he’ll just recharge his batteries after a nap and be at it again. I’d forgotten what it’s like to have a little pup around the house. They never seem to get tired.”

            “While us old fuddy-duddies enjoy our idle laziness,” she teased.

            He shifted his weight slightly to make the hammock rock while also forcing her body to press closer to his when it swung.

            “Nothing wrong with being lazy with the right person,” he replied, nibbling at the back of her neck.

            “Mmm. Stop that.”

            “Make me. Oh wait, you can’t anymore. You lifted the subduing spell,” he taunted with a little cackle.

            She groaned. “I should have put a new spell on the ring.”

            “And made it do what exactly? Slam me to the ground by my hand?”

            She snickered. “No. Maybe have made you slap yourself across the face or give yourself a whack on your own backside.”

            “Oooh, when did you get so kinky?” he kidded.

            “Don’t even think about it.”

            He chuckled and nibbled at her neck again. “Too late.”

            She sighed but said nothing in answer and he eventually contented himself with nuzzling her.

            “Are you ready for tomorrow?” he finally asked.

            “As ready as I can be after fifteen years of retirement.”

            “You’ve only been completely retired for five. Before that, you still saw patients on a part-time basis unless you were pregnant,” he reminded.

            “I know, but it’ll be different, actually having a job and hours that I have to keep.”

            “It’ll be good for you and you know Dr. Maggiano is very happy to have you as her partner.”

            “Well, I’m the natural choice. I’ve had a ¼ hanyou baby and been through the treatments so you can say I have an intimate knowledge of what’s involved. Besides, by working with her maybe we can develop new techniques that will increase the success rate, and make it safer,” she answered.

            “I think that would be very good,” he agreed.

            “And maybe in a few years the technology will have advanced enough such that we can try for another baby, and not have the same heartbreak and complications we suffered with Ian,” she added softly.

            She could almost feel his frown in his sudden stillness. “Kagome… I don’t know… You suffered so much and Dr. Maggiano said that you were high risk for eclampsia again if you tried to have another pup.”

            “I know, but now we know about it and we can prevent it from becoming a problem. Besides, in ten years we may have new medicines and procedures that eliminate the dangers,” she argued.

            “I still don’t know. I don’t ever want to go through that again. Not to mention that half our pups will string us up for even considering it.”

            “I don’t ever want to go through that again either, Inuyasha. Trust me when I say I wouldn’t do it unless I could minimize the risk.”

            “I don’t think you can make that kind of promise. It’s too unpredictable.”

            “Will you agree to at least entertain the idea if we make a breakthrough?”

            He was silent for a long time, then finally answered, “I might, but I can’t make any promises.”

            She sighed, disappointed, but she knew she wasn’t going to get anything further from him on the subject. Yukio was coming their way anyway, carrying Ian on his shoulders.

            “Rain’s coming in,” her eldest announced as he stopped beside the hammock.

            “Your father was just saying the same thing,” she replied with a smile.

            “Heh, great minds think alike, eh Otou-san?”

            “Keh.”

            Ian sniffed the air too but his nose wasn’t as keen as his brother or father’s, still his senses were sharper than a full-blooded human.

            “Rain,” Ian said, looking up at the sky.

            “That’s right, otouto. You smell it too, hm? That’s a good, smart pup,” Yukio cooed to the toddler.

            Ian giggled and grabbed two fistfuls of silver hair. “Nikki!”

            Yukio cringed but did not yelp at having his hair pulled and lowered himself down to one knee so his mother could extricate him from the toddler’s grip. At least the boy hadn’t grabbed his ears as he’d been known to do on occasion.

            “Okaa-san? Please?” he requested, bowing his head to give her access to Ian’s fists.

            “Ian, sweetheart, come to Mama,” she said, reaching for him.

            “Mama!” Ian laughed, letting Yukio’s hair go as he opened grasping hands.

            Yukio quickly removed the toddler from his shoulders and plopped him down in the hammock with his parents.

            “Thank you,” he sighed gratefully.

            “No problem,” she assured him as she settled Ian against her chest. “Did you beat up your brother?” she asked the baby.

            Ian snickered and hid his face against her shoulder in answer as Yukio sat on the ground beside the hammock and braced his back against a tree.

            “He’s a tough pup, that’s for sure. I can roll him around for hours and he just comes begging for more,” Yukio admitted.

            Inuyasha reached over her to rub Ian’s head. “That’s my pup.”

            “What time do you have to go to Calgary tomorrow, Okaa-san?”

            “Dr. Maggiano told me to meet her at the downtown office at 9am.”

            “9am? That’s early,” Yukio said with a frown.

            “No earlier than this little guy has been waking me up every morning,” she replied, patting Ian on the back.

            “True. How late will you be working?”

            “Office hours end at 5, but I’m sure there will be paperwork to fill out before I can go. I’ll try to be back home by 7.”

            “It will be strange not having you here.”

            “I know, but I’m ready to go back to work. I think I can do a lot of good and help a lot of hanyous who want to be parents.”

            Yukio beamed at her. “I know you will, Okaa-san.”

            She smiled at his faith in her. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

            “Inuyasha-san,” their housekeeper, Mariah, called from the back door.

            “Oi! Yeah?”

            “Phone call from your brother, sir!”

            “Huh, I wonder what he wants,” Inuyasha groused. “Be right there!”

            “Hmmm, it must be important, it’s early morning in Japan,” she mused.

            Inuyasha sat up and carefully rolled out of the hammock without upsetting it too much. Yukio helped by reaching out and steadying the hammock with one hand so Kagome and Ian didn’t flip out of it.

            “Bah, you should know by now that Sesshoumaru never sleeps.”

            “True.”

            “I’ll be right back.”

            “We’ll be here,” she assured him, giving him a sweet smile. She waited until he had gone into the house before she turned to her oldest. “So, what are your plans for tomorrow?”

            Yukio gave her a Cheshire grin and folded his arms behind his head. “Well, since you’re back among the working class, I figured I’d sit back, relax, order a few bon-bons and a couple dozen cases of ramen then hit you up for money later.”

            “What I wouldn’t do for a subduing necklace right about now,” she groaned.

            He laughed. “Hey,  ** _you_**  were the one who removed Otou-san’s prayer beads. You have no reason to complain.”

            “And I regret it every day believe me.”

            “No you don’t,” he corrected.

            “Okay, every  ** _other_**  day,” she amended.

            He laughed again, then sobered. “No really. I have a meeting with the Clarksons tomorrow at ten to go over the modifications to their floor plan. We’re supposed to decide on the final layout just as soon as Mrs. Clarkson can settle on whether she wants the kitchen to have a seven-foot peninsula or a ten-foot one.”

            She gave him a wide-eyed look full of humor. “A big decision.”

            “Earth shattering. We’re talking about an extra three feet of counter space for the hired chef.”

            “Doesn’t cook I gather.”

            Yukio shook his head. “She might break a nail boiling an egg.”

            “Ah. I see.”

            “I know we need clients and Otou-san claims a high price for those who can afford it, but I swear some of them are just…”

            “Petty, vapid, rich snobs?” she offered.

            Yukio sighed. “Exactly.”

            She nodded. “It’s the entitlement attitude. They have money so people bow to their whims and they get used to it.”

            “We never did that and our family is rich,” he pointed out.

            “That’s because we long ago learned that true things of value don’t have price tags.”

            “True.”

            “Why do you think Inuyasha does so much work for Habitat for Humanity and designs for lower income families? Everyone deserves a decent place to live regardless of how much money they have.”

            Yukio nodded. “I know. I believe in that too. I have more fun designing houses for our volunteer work clients than I do for most of our full-pay ones.”

            “They pose more of a challenge for you. Having limited funds, space and resources forces you to be more creative.”

            “Yeah, but the Japanese have always been very good at maximizing minimum space. In that, I’m one up on Western architects,” he pointed out proudly. “Not that I can’t design a palace worthy of Bill Gates but it’s more fun to do a 900 sq/ft ranch for some single mother in Peace River.”

            She smiled approvingly at him and rubbed Ian’s back. “We’ll make sure this little terror grows up right.”

            “So he’ll just be a regular hellion and not a spoiled-little-rich-kid hellion,” he teased.

            “Brat.”

            He stuck his tongue out.

            “Oi! What are you doing sticking your tongue out at your mother?” Inuyasha scolded as he returned from the house.

            Yukio lowered his ears at the rebuke, but recovered quickly and stuck his tongue out at his father. “Coz I’m a rude, incorrigible hanyou.”

            “Keh, hanyou has nothing to do with it,” Inuyasha commented.

            “So what did Sesshoumaru want?” she asked.

            “He was calling to tell me that the malpractice case against Hattori has been settled.”

            The sound of the doctor’s name made her cringe. She had no love for the baboon-youkai who had almost killed her and her baby.

            “And?” Yukio prompted, his ears perked up with interest.

            “Well, he’s still breathing.”

            Kagome sighed with relief, inwardly glad that he hadn’t been killed. True, she had no love for him, and she certainly didn’t want him practicing medicine, but she didn’t want him dead either.

            “Hmmmm,” was all Yukio said in answer.

            “And?” she said, urging him to continue.

            “And he was sentenced to five years of prison plus five years probation.”

            “Five? Only five?” Yukio gasped.

            “He’s also been stripped of his license and fined 28 million yen.”

            Yukio crossed his arms and fumed. “That S.O.B. almost killed you and Okaa-san, and he gets a lousy five years and a fine? Where’s the justice in that? I say Uncle should chop off one of his limbs.”

            “Don’t say that,” she snapped, shocked, but didn’t miss the look that passed between the two hanyous. “Don’t tell me Sesshoumaru…”

            “He’s given me his word that he won’t have him killed,” Inuyasha replied but his assurances brought her little comfort.

            “That’s no promise. You can still live without hands. Or legs. Or ears.”

            “Actually I was hoping for something a bit lower,” Inuyasha answered.

            “Removal from the gene pool, perhaps?” Yukio suggested.

            “Hmmmm,” Inuyasha responded, nodding.

            “I don’t like the way this conversation is going,” she interrupted.

            Both hanyous looked chagrined and lowered their ears. She sighed and handed a sleepy Ian to his father as she sat up.

            “I know what he did was wrong, but I don’t want him killed. I’m glad that he lost his license and the fine can go into one of our charitable causes funds,” she insisted, getting out of the hammock.

            “You are far too forgiving Okaa-san,” Yukio said.

            “I have to be. I’ve been mated to your father for 450 years,” she replied.

            “Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?”

            She kissed him on the cheek. “It means that while I love you with all of my heart, it does take a saint to live with you.”

            “Oi. You’re no peach either sometimes,” he complained, frowning.

            She smiled and kissed him on the nose. “I know, and you’re no saint either so that makes us perfect for each other.”

            “Feh.”

            Taking Ian from him, she nuzzled her mate and licked his chin, knowing the sign of submission would pacify him. It worked and he nuzzled her back.

            “What will you do tomorrow when I’m at work?” she asked him as they returned to the house.

            “Thomas wants me to come to the ice rink to see the new uniforms they ordered,” Inuyasha replied.

            “The curling club?”

            “Yeah. Then once I’m done there I’m headed to Peace River.”

            “More Habitat work?” Yukio asked eagerly.

            Inuyasha nodded.

            “I’ll join you after I’m finished with the Clarkson’s.”

            Inuyasha snorted. “If that woman lets you go before sunset.”

            Yukio waggled his eyebrows. “I have my ways when I’m sufficiently motivated.”

            “Feh.”

            “Will you be back before I get home?” she questioned, entering the house through the sliding sunroom doors.

            “I should be,” Inuyasha answered.

            “Alright, I’ll be sure to be home by dinner unless something unexpected comes up,” she promised.

            “Just call me if you’re gonna be late,” he requested.

            “Okay. I’m going to put him down for a nap,” she said, heading for the private wing of the house and the nursery.

            “Okay,” Inuyasha agreed.

            Ian was already half asleep by the time she changed him into his pajamas, lowered him into his crib and tucked his plushie stuffed dog next to him. The toy came to bed with them when Ian slept in their bed so it had their scents on it. It would help to keep him settled and content until they collected him when they went to bed. She kissed her son on his little cheek, made sure he was safely secured, turned on the baby monitor next to his crib and took the handset with her when she left the room.

            She found her eldest and her mate enjoying coffee in the sunroom and joined them. Yukio poured her a cup and handed her the sugar and cream as she sat down at the glass dinette set.

            “So… what, if anything, is on the agenda for the evening?” Yukio asked, sipping his coffee.

            “Absolutely nothing as far as I know,” she answered, taking a sip of her own.

            “I might work on the Tindall plans after dinner. Deadline for the first draft is Friday,” Inuyasha replied.

            Yukio nodded.

            Inuyasha then put his arm around her shoulders and she felt him nuzzle the back of her neck. “Or I might be lazy and just lay on the couch with your mother all evening because it’s her last night of retirement, and I know her too well not to realize that she’ll be putting in many hours of overtime at the office once she gets her feet wet again.”

            “Hey, I promised you I wasn’t going to do that,” she argued.

            He snickered. “Yeah, right. I give it a week before you’re telling me that you’re staying late to work on a case or that you’re rushing over to the hospital because there’s been an emergency. I’ve been with you how long, wench?”

            She scowled and slapped him on the arm, but he just laughed.

            “Dinner’s ready,” Mariah announced, coming into the room.

            “Mmm, thank you, Mariah,” she replied and they all stood up to follow the woman into the dining room.  
            The rain arrived during dinner and began to come down in sheets. Inuyasha built a fire in the main hearth in the Great Room, and they retired there after dinner to watch the rain through the tall Great Room windows. Yukio joined them and sat in an overstuffed armchair to read while she and Inuyasha cuddled on the couch. There was a comfortable silence among them broken only by the sound of the rain outside and the crackling of the fire. She sighed, utterly content, and let herself doze in her mate’s arms.

            She was awakened abruptly by the crash of thunder, and she jerked, startled. Inuyasha nuzzled her with his nose to soothe her as she got her bearings from waking up so quickly.

            “It is a bad storm,” she commented.

            “We’re safe inside,” he assured her, his hand lightly rubbing the back of her neck.

            “I’ll bet that last rumble woke Ian.”

            Inuyasha grunted. “Where’s the baby monitor?”

            She sighed. “I left it in the dining room,” she admitted.

            “Want me to check on him?” Yukio asked.

            “I’ll go in a minute,” she said, yawning.

            Her son nodded and went back to reading. Two minutes later, just as she was sitting up to go check on the toddler, Ian appeared in the doorway of the Great Room with his stuffed dog tucked under one arm and his blanket clasped in the hand of the other.

            “Mama. Tou,” his little voice sniffled.

            “Ian, sweetheart. Did you get scared?” she replied, turning around on the couch to face him.

            “Mama…”

            She moved to rise to her feet and collect her son, but Yukio was faster and scooped him up.

            “Hey, otouto. Did the big noise wake you up, hm?” her eldest soothed, comforting the toddler in words and inu-youkai.

            “Nikki,” Ian answered, resting his head on Yukio’s shoulder.

            “It’s just thunder, otouto. It can’t hurt you.”

            “You okay?” she asked, ready to take the boy if need be.

            Yukio nodded. “Yeah. I’ve got him.”

            She watched as Yukio supported Ian under his bottom with one arm and cradled him against his chest with the other as he returned to the armchair he had been sitting in. For Ian, now that he was weaned, any one of the three of them was acceptable to him, and he adored his older brother, so he settled down right away. She followed suit and lay back down again, her cheek to Inuyasha’s chest. His arms came back around her as he held her close and she relaxed against him.

            Outside the storm raged, lashing the trees and house with wind and water, but they remained safe inside the house Inuyasha had designed and built. Yukio cuddled Ian in the big chair, drawing his legs up to cradle his brother in the curve of his body, thus freeing one hand to pick up his book again. The toddler was already asleep, his stuffed dog still tucked under his arm.

            Watching them from her lazy position on the couch, Kagome smiled at the picture of familial contentment they painted. The sight of a hanyou cradling a hanyou/human cross was something she hoped would become commonplace. Tomorrow she would go to work with Dr. Maggiano, and together they would try to bring the dream of parenthood to hanyous everywhere. Already the lessons learned from her own experience were helping other hanyou/human couples conceive their own babies, and she knew of at least three human females who were currently carrying hanyou-cross infants. So far, it looked like at least one was going to make it to her due date.

            It was a noble cause and the fulfillment of a dream. She knew all too well that the hope of many youkai bloodlines were dependant upon the success of fertility programs like Dr. Maggiano’s and numerous other youkai doctors around the world. Ian would forever be known as the first ¼ hanyou baby born alive and he still received a great deal of attention because of it, although they were doing their best to keep him out of the spotlight as much as possible. He was still just a baby after all. Her and Inuyasha’s baby, and she hoped, in spite of Inuyasha’s very valid reservations, that he would not be their last.

            For now she would table the idea of another baby and wait until new advances made the process safer. She was relatively certain that she could bring her reluctant mate around if she could prove that significant breakthroughs had been made. In the meantime, she had her work and he had his. Their lives had meaning and purpose, and they had their family. She knew what they had endured to come so far and to be where they were, but through it all they’d had each other and their children to keep them strong. In spite of all the hardship, heartache and grief they had suffered, she knew they were truly blessed and she was very grateful for all the gifts that had been given to her.

            “Oi, what are you thinking?” Inuyasha’s soft voice said, calling her out of her thoughts.

            “Nothing,” she answered. “Just that I love you so much, and I’m so happy.”

            She could feel him smile against the top of her head and felt his hand grip her just a little bit closer as the fingers of his other hand came up to tangle in her hair.

            “I love you too, Kagome.” :Mate.:

            :Mate,: she barked back, snuggling close.

            She opened her eyes to see Yukio smiling at her and she smiled back, mouthing the words, ‘I love you too’ at him and making his smile grow wider. He replied with the universal sign language sign for ‘I love you’ and she imitated the gesture in response.

            Lightning cracked and the wind howled as the storm railed its fury down on them, but all they heard was the distant thunder and the crackling of the fire in the hearth. Inuyasha’s hand traced small circles on her back, soothing her into a half-conscious state of relaxation where she was only dimly aware of her surroundings. His heart thudded under her cheek, the steady rhythm of life just under her ear. It was a welcome and familiar sound that symbolized safety and comfort. His arms had always been her safe harbor, her bulwark against the storms of life. As long as Inuyasha was beside her, there was nothing the two of them couldn’t accomplish together.

            She knew that Yukio often referred to himself and all the hanyous they had adopted as ‘the lucky ones’ because they had found a home and parents who loved them. She knew that all her children, with perhaps the sole exception of Tetsukazu, understood how much hanyous had been hated and hunted. It was no secret that hanyous had been killed at birth or hunted down on a regular basis, and the thirty-three they had saved had been only a fraction of the number that had died. Yukio himself knew of the prejudice against hanyous, although he had never had to suffer the way his father had suffered. Still, he had met his share of hateful villagers and prowling youkai. And of course, Hiei had been killed by humans because he was a hanyou.

            But the truth of the matter was that she knew that she was the luckiest one of all. If she and Inuyasha hadn’t been gifted with Yukio, there was no telling what would have happened between them. There was a very good chance that they would never have become mates, and that Inuyasha might have chosen to keep his promise to Kikyou. She was absolutely certain that she would have been dead and turned to dust centuries ago if it weren’t for her bond with Inuyasha because, until Yukio had tried it with Miaka, no one knew a hanyou could extend the life of a mate through the ritual blood sharing performed by full youkai.

            So without Yukio starting it all, she would have died back in the Sengoku Jidai after the well closed, Inuyasha might have gone to hell with Kikyou, and none of the blessed life she led would ever have happened. She would never have mated Inuyasha, raised a family with him, or experienced the love and joy that she now took for granted half of the time. She was very, very grateful to Yukio and always had been. He was perhaps the greatest gift that had ever been given to her, aside from her meeting Inuyasha in the first place.

            But it was times like these, in the quiet nights of comfortable silence full of love and peace that it really all came home to her. Lying there in Inuyasha’s arms, safe and comfortable, with her oldest cradling her youngest as the baby slept, she felt the overwhelming love that surrounded her and knew she was unbelievably fortunate.

             _‘I am the lucky one,’_  she thought happily to herself, as the rhythm of the rain and Inuyasha’s steady heartbeat lulled her to peaceful sleep.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Feudal Genius](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11451618) by [LyzDrake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyzDrake/pseuds/LyzDrake)




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